


Tonight, Tonight

by Jackie_Gaytona



Series: Supersexy Swingin' Sounds to Make Love to [2]
Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Love, M/M, familiar, more tags to come, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:46:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24973309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackie_Gaytona/pseuds/Jackie_Gaytona
Summary: Sequel to “Everlong” - and the aftermath of the truth potion.
Relationships: Guillermo de la Cruz/Nandor the Relentless, Laszlo Cravensworth/Nadja
Series: Supersexy Swingin' Sounds to Make Love to [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807585
Comments: 87
Kudos: 216





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A few people asked for a sequel to Everlong, so here we go! This is a very self-indulgent fic— I take no responsibility for any OOCness. Lol jk I take full responsibility.
> 
> I don't plan to make this a long fic, probably around 3 chapters like the last one. But we'll see where it takes me.

_Time is never time at all  
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth  
And our lives are forever changed  
We will never be the same  
The more you change the less you feel_

_Believe, believe in me, believe, believe_

_That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain  
We're not the same, we're different tonight, _

_Tonight, tonight, so bright  
Tonight_

**Smashing Pumpkins – Tonight, Tonight**

*****************

[ ](https://ibb.co/jT8GpdL)

Guillermo had reread the note at least six times throughout the day. The first time, tears had sprung to his eyes and he’d wiped them away quickly, feeling like a lovesick fool. After that, each time he read those childishly-scribbled words, his heart grew bigger and bigger until his chest felt ready to burst. He’d run his fingers lightly over the ink, over the places Nandor’s clenched fist must have rested as he struggled getting the pen under control in his big hand. What had the vampire been thinking as he scrawled those words? Had he tucked Guillermo into bed and then watched him as he’d admitted to doing; sitting at his feet or stretched out beside him? And after that, did he go sit down with a blank piece of paper and wrestle for hours over what he was going to write? Or did the words flow naturally – albeit full of spelling errors and preschool-level handwriting? Guillermo desperately wanted to know all of it.

The letter was tucked safely away in his top drawer beside his underwear; but he knew he’d soon have to retrieve it and confront the vampire who, in his intoxicated state, had left it on his ex-familiar’s bedside table. And that idea cast a big blanket of anxiety over all the other emotions that had been building in him throughout his day.

The day had been blessedly uneventful, at least. Guillermo had spent it doing his usual familiarly chores; he may not have technically been a familiar anymore, but the house wasn’t going to clean itself. And he needed human food. He left his grocery-store outing until last; long after the truth potion had worn off. It was late afternoon when he snuck into Nandor’s room to fetch some money from the money dish. The vampire had been snoring softly, but his acute sense of hearing picked up the soft clinking of coins and the rustling of bills and he stirred.

“Guillermo?” he slurred drowsily; his voice muffled by the coffin’s walls.

Guillermo froze on the spot and squeaked out a, “Yes, Nandor?”

“He's in a boy band, which doesn't make much sense for a snake,” the vampire mumbled, and then began to snore again.

Guillermo choked on a giggle, strangely relieved, and pocketed the cash before slinking out the door and into the candlelit hallway. He walked to the Stop & Shop half a dozen blocks away and stocked up on frozen meals, drinks, snacks, toilet paper, and whatever else he could squeeze into his basket. At some point he found himself standing in the health aisle, directly in front of a shelf stocking condoms and lubricants and massage oils. His face heated up as he thought back to the night before, and Nandor’s note. He’d said he wanted to be with him; that he wanted to try to make it work. And on top of everything else, that opened up endless opportunities for intimacy.

Before he knew what he was doing, Guillermo snatched up the nearest bottle of massage oil and dropped it into his basket. He tried inhaling and exhaling slowly through his nose to cool his face down, but he felt jittery, as if something was going to come jumping out from behind a corner any moment now to frighten him.

The young man at the checkout tried to initiate conversation, though Guillermo couldn’t tell if that was because he was suspicious of his flighty behaviour or just bored. In any case, Guillermo was in an even less talkative mood than usual, so when the checkout guy asked how his day had been, he simply hummed and shrugged…and all but dashed out the automatic doors with his two bags in tow.

He raced the setting sun home, but it was dark by the time he arrived and pushed through the front door. He heard voices – Laszlo’s and Nadja’s – drifting out from the fancy room, and part of him hoped that Nandor was still…

He was awake.

The vampire stood tall and imposing in the main foyer, scratching the back of his head, his brow furrowed as if he’d forgotten where he’d put something. Guillermo stepped into the light and cleared his throat, startling him.

“Guillermo!” he said loudly, spinning on his heels to face his ex-familiar. “Where were you? I was very worried. I thought you had left us again.” His words surprised Guillermo, who raised his eyebrows; but the vampire’s tone was no less contemptuous as usual.

“All my stuff is still in my room,” Guillermo replied slowly, averting his gaze as he circled around him to get to the staircase. “I was just at the store.”

“Well I didn’t know that!” Nandor spat. “You could have left a note!”

Guillermo’s heart gave a quick leap in his chest. He rarely left notes when he went out, and Nandor had never complained before…was he indirectly referring to his own note? Had he expected one back? _No_ , Guillermo told himself sternly, _he just needs something to complain about. And it’s becoming more and more difficult now that I’m not his familiar._ That realisation had him stewing a little.

“Did you buy me a surprise?” Nandor piped up again, his attention turning to the plastic bags.

Guillermo had _almost_ made it safely to the staircase. He sighed and turned around, tactfully hiding the bags behind his back. “No, I didn’t.”

“Not even the glowy sticks?”

“How was I supposed to know you wanted glowsticks?” His voice came out more exasperated than intended. Nandor pouted in reply and then snatched a hand out, fast as lightning, to yank one of the bags out of his hand. “Hey!” Guillermo cried, but his human arms were too slow to catch him. This was nothing new…Nandor always expected some kind of absurd little gift from the store, but Guillermo’s brain had been so addled he hadn’t thought about it.

Nandor shook the bag like a child shaking a gift on Christmas eve, then he took a peek inside. “Pizza rolls? Eggos? I can’t eat human food, Guillermo! Nor can I play with shaving foam and—” he stuck a hand into the bag and pulled out a dark blue bottle, “—Tro-jan. Lub-ri-cant.—”

Guillermo groaned internally. _That wasn’t the bottle I picked up, was it?_

“All right, Gizmo?” Laszlo greeted, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

_That’s it. I’m going to die_. _Please God, strike me down before this gets any worse._

Nandor was still sounding out the words. “—Sexy. Feeling. _Message_. Oil.” He looked up at his ex-familiar, his mouth twisted in an almost frightened grimace. “Did you get more truth potion, Guillermo?”

Laszlo tilted his head back and guffawed. “That’s no truth potion, chap.”

“ _Give me that_ ,” Guillermo snapped, and snatched it out of the confused vampire’s grip. He ducked his head and quickly made his way up to his room, leaving Laszlo to whatever sage advice he was planning to instil on his fellow vampire.

Guillermo was so flustered, he took no notice of what he was doing as he stuffed his frozen meals into the bar fridge and put everything else away – that is, until his hand groped the bottle of lube at the bottom of the bag and reality came rushing back in. His eyes flittered briefly over the words that Nandor had read out, then he stuffed it quickly into his top drawer and recoiled as if it had burnt him. That was when he saw the note. He’d presently forgotten all about it and his idea to approach Nandor in his embarrassment.

That said, Nandor acting his usual demanding, childish self was probably a _good_ sign. At least he wasn’t avoiding him like Guillermo had half expected. He had even expressed concern about waking up and not finding his faithful ex-familiar there. Guillermo smiled, warming at the memory, and the chagrin slowly dissolved away. He snatched up the folded note decidedly and tucked it into his palm, then made his way down to the foyer. He kept his breathing even and willed his hands not to shake; if the nerves got hold of him now, he’d turn straight back around and go back to his room and put the note away and then what? Likely it would never be mentioned again. Guillermo couldn’t have that. He needed to sort this out, not only for himself but for Nandor, who was probably just as reluctant to put his heart on his sleeve and face the possibility of rejection.

_There’s no other option_ , Guillermo told himself, and that realisation gave him more confidence than anything else. Descending the stairs, he could already see that the foyer was empty; but Nadja’s voice came ringing out of the fancy room, so Guillermo decided to try there for Nandor. The vampires in this household (minus Colin Robinson) were like a small flock of hens: constantly hungry, fiercely sassy, powerful as a unit but utterly useless by themselves. In other words, they stuck together – follow the clucking of one, and you’d more than likely find the others.

As expected, Nadja’s voice led him to Nandor and Laszlo as well. Laszlo was sprawled out on one of the antique lounges, his legs stretched out to make the most of every inch of cushion available. He rested a hand gently on his forehead, his fingers rubbing at it as though he suffered a migraine. Nadja was standing adjacent, holding a few sheets of old paper and humming along to whatever music was printed on them. Nandor sat in the corner by the desk – the same desk he probably sat at last night to write his note. He’d dragged the chair out from behind the desk though, and leaned an elbow against the surface, resting his head on his hand. From the feigned looks of interest on his and Laszlo’s faces, Guillermo must have walked in on one of Nadja’s routine singing rehearsals.

Nandor’s passive face did little to hide the overstrung air that bounced around him. He was exuding nervous energy, and Guillermo felt it immediately, even before the vampire seemed to notice him. Nadja and Laszlo ignored Guillermo as he slipped past and headed for Nandor. He was hardly aware of how painfully clenched his teeth were as he struggled to keep his hands steady and his head clear of doubt. He kept his eyes above Nandor’s head, but he could see him from the corner of his eye; he was looking at Nadja, but his body seemed to stiffen more and more the closer Guillermo came. That few feet he had to walk in order to reach him felt more like a few miles.

But at the same time, he arrived at the seated vampire far too quickly. And although Nandor was still looking away, his jaw jutted slightly forward as if he, too, were clenching his teeth, Guillermo could still feel two other pairs of eyes on the back of his head, and it made him all the more uneasy.

“Mas—Nandor?” Guillermo bit back the former title, inwardly cursing himself. Nandor at least had the grace to look up at him now. “Can we talk?” He hesitated a moment, trying to read the passive expression on the vampire’s face. “A-alone?”

They both glanced at Nadja, who had stopped her humming and was now watching them. All they could see of Laszlo were his elbow and the tips of his shoes. “Nadja is doing an important…rehearsal thing,” Nandor explained, gesturing to her.

“Well, _this_ is important,” Guillermo entreated. He gave Nandor a pointed look, but the vampire was avoiding his gaze now. He tried to ignore the dread that was slowly pressing in on his chest as he lightly tossed the folded note on the desk. Nandor attempted to keep his expression stolid, but his poker faces had always been awful. Guillermo saw right through it.

“Nadja? Laszlo?” the vampire said slowly. “Can you please leave us a moment?”

Nadja made a face, though there was a curious look in her eyes. Laszlo groaned from the lounge but didn’t move. “If you need a moment, you and Gizmo can step out. I’m trying to watch my lady wife--”

“Out!” Nandor roared, jumping to his feet and slamming his palm on the desk. Only Guillermo jumped. Nadja rolled her eyes and pouted.

“All right, all right.” Laszlo lazily rose from the lounge and stretched before muttering, “Calm your dead tits.” He followed his wife out of the room, glancing back once to give Guillermo a look; one the man couldn’t decipher. Nandor was rubbing his sore palm on his thigh as he sat back in the chair, a grimace on his face. He gingerly touched the piece of paper, ready to recoil should it bite him. As he unfolded it, Guillermo could almost hear the cogs in his head begin their lazy, irregular rotations. He shoved his trembling hands in the pockets of his jacket and braced himself.

Nandor opened the letter, pretended to read it for a second, and then dropped it on the desk. “Do you think I wrote that?” he scoffed.

Guillermo raised his eyebrows. Two could play this game. “You didn’t write it?”

“Of course I didn’t!” Nandor said defensively. “It must have been Laszlo, or someone.” He flicked a hand dismissively toward the piece of paper, but Guillermo could see straight through the façade. He plucked the letter off the desk and refolded it.

“Oh, well in that case I better go talk to Laszlo—”

“No!” Nandor cried, and lunged for the letter. Guillermo had calculated his next move and managed to jump out of his way. Now they were both standing, facing each other, Guillermo hiding the letter behind his back.

Nandor sighed, defeated. “Okay, yes, I wrote the letter.” He perked up suddenly and pointed a finger at his ex-familiar’s chest. “But _you_ drugged me! That was a very mean thing to do, Guillermo.”

“You knew you were being drugged!” Guillermo shot back.

“Yes, but _you_ didn’t know that, and you didn’t ask my permission!” He poked the man in the chest, and Guillermo bristled. Why did Nandor make this so _difficult_ for him? For them both?

“It was a truth potion,” he said evenly, forcing eye contact. “Which means everything you said last night was the truth. Everything in this letter in the truth.”

Nandor pouted. “Well maybe I thought it was all true at the time, because I was drugged!”

“You’re being childish, Nandor.”

“No, you are!” But Nandor’s voice was hesitant, and Guillermo rolled his eyes. He brought the letter back into view.

“So this means nothing, then?” he asked bitterly. He wasn’t believing a word of it, but there was no other direction he could possibly take right now, aside from leaving the room. And he didn’t want to leave yet. He wanted to get this sorted one way or another.

Nandor’s expression was one he had seen before. That wide-eyed, grimacing, uncertain face; that same face he’d worn while telling Guillermo he should take Celeste’s offer. That had seemed like a lifetime ago; not just a few weeks **.**

“No,” he said finally, the words barely escaping his partly-closed lips.

As certain as Guillermo was that the vampire was literally lying through his teeth, the word still stung, and he found himself suddenly blinking back tears. “Okay, fine,” he said, and with shaky, reluctant hands he began to tear the letter into strips.

“Hey!” Nandor made to lunge forward but stopped himself with a jerk, and watched in dismay as the letter became confetti.

Guillermo jutted his jaw. “Well, if the letter doesn’t mean anything--”

“That was my best drawing of John!” Nandor complained, and Guillermo rolled his eyes again and threw the bits of paper into the fire. He heard Nandor huff, and when he spun back around, the vampire was gone, his only trace the gentle rippling of curtains in the doorway.

Guillermo heard Nadja call Nandor’s name in vain, and a moment later she was back in the room with Laszlo in tow.

“What was that about?” she asked, her curiosity piqued. Guillermo was too choked up to reply so he simply shrugged and tried to hide his tears. “Oh!” Nadja continued, completely oblivious. “I bet this is about that truth potion. This is why you should not trust potions. There are always regrets the next day.”

Laszlo put a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder, but his eyes were on Guillermo. “Darling, would you go check on the armadillo taxidermy? I think I heard a noise coming from our room.”

Nadja groaned. “What is it with all these secrets, now? Do you really think I’m that stupid, Laszlo?” But still she left, muttering the entire way.

Laszlo reclined on one of the sofas facing the fireplace and crossed his legs.

“What was the note about, boy?”

Guillermo was still standing by the fireplace, hands in his pockets, the tears drying in his eyes.

Laszlo stuck up a hand before he could reply. “Wait! Don’t tell me. It was from Nandor, confessing his undying love for you while three sheets to the wind, and now he’s hungover and denying the whole thing?”

Guillermo blanched. “H-how did you know?”

“Because Nandor is bloody predictable, that’s how,” Laszlo retorted. He beckoned to Guillermo silently with his hand. Guillermo lingered for a moment, uncertain, but then met him on the lounge, keeping to the opposite end. He was half expecting Laszlo to scold him and tell him to sit on another lounge, but the vampire leaned over and spoke in a low voice. “Look, chap, usually I couldn’t give any less of a fuck about your and Nandor’s…whatever it is you have going on. But I’m getting tired of all the pussyfooting and sexual tension between the two of you. You’re both stinking up the house with your low spirits, and my good lady wife won’t stop whining about it."

Guillermo eyed the vampire warily. “Okay…” he said at length.

“Frankly, the sooner you two start screwing, the better,” he continued. There was a sudden sparkle in his eye that Guillermo didn’t like, and when he spoke again, his voice was even lower. “Gizmo, I think I know a way to win him over.”


	2. Operation Make Nandor Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laszlo has an infallible plan. Guillermo is a little worried about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably one of the dumbest things I have ever written and is probably OOC. You have been warned. I just want to believe deep down that Laszlo is secretly rooting for Nandermo, and I also wanted something a little more light-hearted and silly because things get kinda serious next chapter.
> 
> Huge huge THANK YOU to all the comments and kudos on my works!!

_And you know you're never sure_   
_But you're sure you could be right_   
_If you held yourself up to the light_

_And the embers never fade in your city by the lake_   
_The place where you were born_

_Believe, believe in me, believe, believe_   
_In the resolute urgency of now_

_And if you believe there's not a chance tonight_   
_Tonight, tonight, so bright_

_Tonight_

**********************

He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this. It was one of the oldest tropes in the book and if it didn’t work in movies, then it _definitely_ wasn’t going to work in real life. Was he really this desperate? _Really?_

It was the night after Nandor’s little spat. Laszlo had agreed that they should give him a night alone to cool off and maybe even do some thinking, and so Guillermo had spent the day trying to keep himself busy, forcing his mind not dwell on his housemate’s proposition.

Now he sat in the library, sharing a couch with Laszlo. The vampire had somehow managed to convince Nadja to hunt alone tonight, specifically _after_ Nandor returned from finding his own dinner. His ex-master was lurking somewhere in the house; he had only caught glimpses of him so far tonight (he was avoiding Guillermo – that much was now obvious).

The silence would have been awkward if it weren’t for Laszlo’s almost comically-straight back and cocked head – he’d been on high alert like this for the past half hour, listening out for any sign of his housemate. Guillermo was also on edge, but his anxiety was making it hard to focus on _anything_. It didn’t help that there had been so many false alarms; whenever Laszlo heard a sound, he’d squeeze Guillermo’s knee and put up a hand as if to hush him (though Guillermo had kept quiet this whole time), eyes wide and intent, and Guillermo’s heart would do a giddy dance in his chest.

He was lost in a jungle of excited thoughts when Laszlo finally put a hand up to his ear and slapped the man’s knee. “Wait—wait he’s coming,” he said quietly, still listening, and then nodded. “Yes, he’s definitely coming.” In a great rush, he slipped closer to Guillermo, until their thighs were practically touching, and stretched his arm across the seat’s backrest, so that it followed the curve of Guillermo’s shoulders. He crossed his legs and began to laugh just before Nandor appeared in the doorway.

“Nandor!” he said too quickly, making a point to lean further against Guillermo, so that now their shoulders were touching. “Giz—I mean, Guillermo here just told me a _cracking_ joke. Tell him, Gee--aahmo!”

“Wait—what?” Guillermo squeaked. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he glanced at Laszlo and then at Nandor, who looked about as comfortable as a deer stuck in the grill of a car...after ignoring the headlights. He racked his brains for the funniest joke he could think of, but came up short, feeling two pairs of expectant eyes on him. He bit his lip.

“Uh…so…a man walks into a bar,” he began. Bar jokes were a dime a dozen, surely he could think of one as he talked? “He walks into a bar and…and it’s empty. Just him and the bartender…” He remembered this one had made him laugh when he’d read it on Facebook three years ago. “So, the bar’s empty, and the guy orders a drink. And he hears someone say, ‘Pssst…I like your tie.’”

“Ha!” Laszlo exclaimed, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Guillermo cringed. “ _I’m not done yet_ ,” he hissed under his breath, before continuing at a level voice. “The man looks around but doesn’t see anyone. He hears another voice. ‘Pssst…that colour looks nice on you.’ He has no idea who’s talking to him. Did I mention the bar is empty? So the guy asks the bartender, ‘Excuse me, but are you speaking to me?’. And the bartender rolls his eyes and says, ‘No, sorry about that. It’s the peanuts…they’re complimentary.’”

Guillermo snapped his mouth shut and sat expectantly, hands resting on his lap. Laszlo leaned away and screwed his face up, squinting at the man in bewilderment. Nandor’s face hadn’t changed; it was the same expression he’d worn after mistakenly thinking Guillermo was eating his own poops. The silence stretched, awkward and taut. Eyes darted here and there.

But then suddenly Laszlo threw his head back and let out a mighty laugh. His shoulders jerked as he hooted and slapped his knee, and a moment later he fell against Guillermo’s shoulder. “Complementary…” he gasped. There were tears in his eyes. Guillermo smirked in spite of himself; it was almost as if Laszlo actually _did_ find the joke funny.

Nandor just looked incredibly confused. “Okay,” he said at length. “I…I just came in here for…” he looked around in dismay, the reason for his intrusion forgotten. “Ah…this!” He quickly snatched up a taxidermy of a mouse playing the fiddle, and hurried out of the room, the curtains fluttering closed behind him.

Guillermo’s heart dropped. “It didn’t work,” he muttered.

“Yes, I think the joke was a little difficult for him to understand.”

“Not the joke! _This_.” Guillermo gestured to them both; emphasising their proximity. Laszlo had Guillermo squashed up against the armrest of the lounge, his shoulder digging into his upper arm. It must have looked absurd; there was enough room on the lounge for three or four people.

“Oh, no, it worked perfectly,” Laszlo said with confidence. He shuffled quickly to the other side of the lounge and dusted off his vest, as if Guillermo had somehow soiled it with his mere presence.

“He didn’t look all that jealous,” Guillermo said glumly. He tried to ignore the disappointment gnawing at him, but it was hard not to cling on to it, to feel something that wasn’t just…dread.

“Maybe not, chap, but it _was_ noted,” Laszlo said. “There’s no way even an idiot like him could have missed my flirting.”

Guillermo blinked at him. “T-that was flirting?” he squeaked.

Laszlo gave him a dirty look. “Don’t get fresh with me, lad.” He pointed a finger at him. “I’ll have you know I won the 1969 Staten Island Gentlemen’s Association Coquetry contest. And there’s a good reason I won it in that particular year.” He winked, his frown dissolving. “No, Gizmo,” he continued decidedly, “we’ve got Nandor right where we want him. And next time, we go in for the kill!” He threw a fist in the air and bared his fangs excitedly, then saw Guillermo’s alarmed expression and quickly added, “So to speak.”

Laszlo and Guillermo both agreed that it would be best to leave Plan B until the next night. Of course, Guillermo still had no idea what ‘Plan B’ entailed, and frankly he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know; or even go along with it. He _wanted_ to believe that he could trust Laszlo to make the right decisions…but, well, this was Laszlo after all. The only thing that gave him hope – even if that hope was paired with a bitter resentment every time he thought about it – was that Laszlo had known Nandor for far longer than Guillermo ever had. Nandor was no doubt more open towards him; and Laszlo was probably more attuned to the vampire’s reserved personality. No doubt he could read Nandor far better than even Guillermo could. There was that, and also the rather grating, disheartening fact that Laszlo and Nandor had been _intimate_ with one another…on more than one occasion. On one hand, Guillermo hated Laszlo for that fact. But on the other, some part of him deep down wanted to trust that his housemate had Nandor’s (and, vicariously, his) best interests at heart.

It was that hope that he clung to the next night, when Laszlo waited with him in the hallway outside of Nandor’s crypt. At first, Guillermo had stood right outside the door, but Laszlo had quickly pulled him further along, past the little table lit by dying candles, and into the shadows.

“We don’t want it to be completely obvious,” he whispered, gently shoving Guillermo’s back against the wall with a hand on his shoulder. “We want to appear as _genuine_ as possible.”

“Laszlo, what exactly are we doing?” Guillermo asked quietly, swallowing down the lump of uncertainty in his throat. Even in the dim light he saw the way Laszlo’s eyes sparkled. It made him uneasy; Laszlo in a mischievous mood never bode well. He may have thought himself cheeky in a charming and intelligent way, but oftentimes he was so far off the bullseye that he was shooting into the sky.

“If I told you, you’d back out,” Laszlo whispered back. He was slightly hunched, his eyes gazing intently at Nandor’s door down the hallway. His hand was still on Guillermo’s shoulder.

“Y-you won’t make me do anything to Nandor will you? Like kiss him?”

Laszlo frowned at him. “Of course not. He’d turn himself into a _bat_ out of embarrassment and go live behind the walls. We can’t have that.”

“Oh. You won’t do anything to Nandor, will you?” Guillermo whispered; his eyes wide with apprehension. “Like…kiss him?”

Laszlo glared at him like he was a complete dunce. There was a muffled thump from Nandor’s room, and they both gave a little startle. “How bloody long does it take this man to wake up?” Laszlo hissed.

“You should know,” Guillermo muttered, then snapped his mouth shut in surprise, eyes widening a little. It wasn’t like him to talk first and think later…if the truth potion hadn’t worn off yesterday, he could have blamed it on that. But right now, there was only one thing responsible for _that_ kind of outburst.

Laszlo shifted on his feet so that he faced Guillermo fully, and he squinted, a small smile beginning on his lips. “Are _you_ jealous?”

As much as Guillermo wanted to say no, to wipe that smug smirk off his face, he couldn’t bring himself to lie. He was terribly jealous. And that made him feel guilty; guilty about…whatever it was that Laszlo was planning. He hung his head with a soft groan. “I don’t understand why Nandor and I can’t work this out like adults,” he mumbled. “Why we have to resort to such childish games.”

Laszlo squeezed Guillermo’s shoulder with the hand that had taken up residence there. “Listen here, Gizmo. We have to play these childish games because we’re _dealing_ with a big, hairy, murderous child. Who also happens to be a bloodthirsty creature of the night, with a cold dead heart that he hasn’t opened in centuries.” He pointed a finger at Guillermo’s chest. “Don’t bloody tell him I said that.”

There was another loud thump, and a groan from Nandor, indicating that he was either stretching and yawning, or he’d stumbled over something in the dark. Guillermo figured it was the latter, and suddenly he was terrified. Nandor would be out any second. Another gentle squeeze from Laszlo, and Guillermo looked back at him.

“Nandor doesn’t think. Or if he does, he acts first, and _then_ …” the vampire thought a moment, then waved a dismissive hand. “He doesn’t think. Telling him your feelings won’t work, chap; he’s got a cold stake shoved so far up his arse he’s practically a ventriloquist’s wet dream.”

Guillermo blinked. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“That’s my boy!” Laszlo grinned and patted his shoulder. “Be a Nandor. Don’t think, just _do_.”

Nandor’s door opened with a loud bang, and several things happened at once. From the corner of his eye, Guillermo saw Nandor stretch, his vest tied up all wrong and his hair dishevelled; but it was only a glimpse, because suddenly Laszlo had him by the collar, pulling him in to the most uncomfortable, prickly, _clumsiest_ kiss Guillermo had ever received **.** He tried to wrench his head away, but Laszlo grabbed hold of the back of it and pinned him in place.

So this was Laszlo’s plan. Guillermo could have laughed at the absurdity of it. Make Nandor jealous by making out with his centuries-old friend. _Yeah, that’s sure to win him over_ , he thought. He was so near the point of madness that a giggle rose in his throat. He subjected himself to Laszlo’s kisses with his eyes squeezed shut; he didn’t want to open them and face either vampire – but especially Nandor. The kissing was blessedly chaste, and Guillermo was reluctant to do anything more than stand there and take it. At least his partner in crime had the decency (or enough contempt for him) to not use his tongue.

Guillermo tried not to think about the expression that was probably on Nandor’s face right now. What if he hated Guillermo for this? What if he thought Guillermo was trying to steal _Laszlo_ from _him_? His stomach dropped sickeningly, and he almost felt like throwing up. What if everything that had happened that night – after they’d drunk the truth potion – had been some big hallucinogenic farce? Laszlo’s whiskers tickled the space between his nose and lips, and Guillermo felt a sneeze building. But a second later the vampire’s lips moved away and Guillermo was able to gasp for air and rub at the redness on his mouth.

A second later though, he felt that same tickle on his neck. His eyes were still closed, but somehow he managed to shut them even tighter as Laszlo’s lips glided over his skin; not kissing, barely touching, but close enough to give the illusion. The vampire was murmuring and making amorous noises and Guillermo had to swallow more laughter. This whole thing was ludicrous; but even worse, for all his discomfort and chagrin, Guillermo was almost _enjoying_ it.

_How fucking starved am I for attention?_ he scolded himself. _And why hasn’t Nandor said anything? Is he—is he even still there?_

His eyes snapped open unbidden at the thought, his heart leaping into his throat. He hadn’t heard Nandor _at_ _all_ during this time, but the vampire could be deceptively quiet when he moved. He willed his breathing to slow – it was coming out in shamefully heavy puffs – and slid his eyes to Nandor’s door. His ex-master stood in front of it, in the same place he’d been stretching moments ago. But now he was looking at them, his tired, sunken eyes wide but unreadable beneath a slightly lowered brow. His mouth was set in a confused frown, and as Guillermo’s eyes fell on those lips, he briefly wondered what Nandor’s beard would feel like against his clean-shaven skin. The thought sent a little thrill down Guillermo’s spine, and it brought him back to the sensation of Laszlo’s lips grazing his skin, his hands sliding every which way on his body. He was vaguely aware that he was holding Laszlo, too, but he couldn’t recall ever moving his arms. Maybe Laszlo had placed them there himself.

Nandor mostly looked nonplussed, but his eyes refused to leave them.

“Laszlo,” Guillermo hissed, and pushed the vampire roughly away.

“What is it—oh, Nandor!” Laszlo spun around, feigning surprise. “Guillermo was just showing me what he can do with his tongue!” He turned back to Guillermo briefly and winked, ever the showman.

But Guillermo was looking at Nandor. Something had shifted in the vampire’s face. It became less neutral: his brow knit together; he ran his tongue over his teeth absent-mindedly while he assessed the situation. Laszlo took a step forward. “I say, you’re missing out, friend. He may look like a good, humble boy, but once you get past the...”

A great rumble worked through Nandor’s chest and out between clenched teeth. Guillermo’s breath hitched in his throat. Laszlo gaped at him. “Did you just _growl_?”

Nandor lunged, and for a moment Guillermo thought he was coming for him, and he shrunk back against the wall with a strangled shriek, shielding himself with his hands. But it was Laszlo he had gone for, and with a shouted “What the fuck!” from Laszlo, the two of them were now rolling around and hissing and scratching at each other in what looked like a catfight for the ages. Guillermo’s jaw dropped. All he could do was watch on helplessly as the scrap progressed into throwing each other around and walking on walls.

“What is going _on_?” a feminine voice groaned loudly from somewhere nearby. The vampires – who were now floating close to the ceiling and throttling each other – didn’t seem to hear. A moment later, the aggressive _tap-tap-tap_ of Nadja’s high-heeled boots followed her into the candlelight. “ _Nandor_!” she scolded. “ _Laszlo_!” She grabbed for her husband’s feet. The first time she came away with one of his shoes, but on the second attempt she had his shins clutched within her arms. “Get _down_ here!” she hissed, and then pulled with all her might. Laszlo barely budged; nor did he take notice. They were scratching at each other again, hands contorted into claws, fangs bared, eyes dark and burning.

“Gizmo, help me!” Nadja said, and with a grunt she pulled at her husband’s legs again. When he still didn’t acknowledge her, she leapt into the air and tugged at his shoulders. Guillermo snapped out of it all of a sudden, and quickly assessed the situation.

He leapt into the fray – or beneath it, at least. “Nandor!” he yelled. “Stop!” He tried to reach out for the vampire’s feet and almost got kicked in the face in the process. “ _Nandor_! Please!”

“Vampire-only fight, Guillermo!” Nandor called down, his voice strained. He was prissily smacking Laszlo on the shoulders and chest like the truly terrifying warrior he was. “Laszlo…has to learn…not to seduce… _my familiar_!” He smacked the other vampire square in the jaw, and Laszlo yelled and swung back while dodging another blow.

“Seducing!?” Nadja gasped, and then looked down at the familiar, who was desperately trying to jump and catch Nandor’s legs. “ _Him_ , Laszlo?” She screwed her nose up in disgust, her tone suddenly flat. “Really?” She turned to her husband and clutched at his jacket, pulling him back down to the floor. “Enough of this,” she insisted, and dusted off Laszlo’s vest like a fussing mother. Nandor took the hint and joined them as well, much to Guillermo’s relief. Neither vampire had been hurt, but the tension in the air warned of another fight, should somebody chirp one more snide remark.

Nadja rounded on the three of them, her eyes wide in disbelief. “You’re fighting over… _this_?” she spat, pointing at the one human in the room.

“Wow,” said the human.

All three vampires glared at him, and he shut his mouth.

“Nandor,” Nadja said sternly, facing the vampire. “Are you telling me my handsome, smart, sensual and _very_ sexually adept husband has been seducing your…your virgin church boy? In his…” she gestured to Guillermo’s trousers, “…in his…his…”

“Jeans?” Guillermo supplied, a sharp edge in his tone.

“He was canoodling with my familiar!” Nandor cried.

Laszlo shrugged. “Well he wasn’t going to get it from anywhere else,” he

said with a prideful smirk. Nandor hissed at him, and he hissed back.

Nadja stomped her foot, missing Guillermo’s toes by a quarter of an inch. He shied away. “You’re both big bloody idiots!” she yelled shrilly. “Just two horny, delicious bears fighting over a pathetic human leg!”

“Calm down, my dear,” Laszlo said in his most placatory voice, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “You know you’re the only apple in my eye. My only sweet plum pudding. My _petit pois_.”

“Oh, Laszlo.” Nadja patted his chest and let out a little laugh. “You know I don’t mind you playing with the fields. But _Gizmo_?” She stuck her tongue out.

“Just a little fun, my sweet honeypot,” Laszlo said, with a charming smile that made the sides of his eyes crinkle.

Nadja twirled around into his arms and spoke in a low, husky voice. “I can think of _other_ ways to have fun.” She began to giggle seductively, and soon Laszlo was joining in.

“Lead the way, lady wife,” he said.

Nandor and Guillermo watched the exchange, completely forgotten by the couple. Guillermo gaped at the back of Laszlo’s head as the vampire and his wife walked into the gloom, headed in the direction of their bedroom. Their chuckles rang down the hallway even after they had disappeared from sight. Only after the echoes had faded, did either of them dare speak. Guillermo spun around to face Nandor, an apology on the tip of his tongue.

Nandor got there first, though. “Guillermo, I’m…I’m sss—” he paused for a moment, his eyes rolling upwards to the ceiling while he struggled to think. Guillermo raised his eyebrows but waited patiently. “I’m ss—sorry. That I acted that way. I did not set a good example for my familiar.”

Guillermo let out half a chuckle. “Well, technically I’m not your—”

“Please, Guillermo!” Nandor put up a hand. “Let me finish.” He took a deep breath, and there was a sudden softness in his eyes as he regarded Guillermo that made the man want to melt. But there was also something there akin to sadness, and that surprised him. Nandor’s voice was quiet, hesitant, when he spoke again. “If you…if you want to go canoodling with Laszlo, I won’t stop you.”

Guillermo’s eyebrows dropped. _What!?_

“Finding you and him like that, it…well it made me…”

Guillermo’s heart swelled stupidly. “Jealous?” he breathed.

Nandor blinked at him and grimaced. “ _Jealous_? No, Guillermo! Let me finish!”

He took another deep breath – which was usually an amusing thing to see; a throwback from a life lived long ago – but right now Guillermo was filled with a bitter resentment that was threatening to consume him. It only worsened as Nandor continued to speak. “It felt like…you know in that movie, the one with the teenaged girls?”

Guillermo lifted his glasses and massaged his eyes. He was going to have one hell of a migraine before the night was over. “You’ll have to be a little more specific, M—Nandor.”

“You know, the one with the school and the teenaged girls, and one of them has silky hair like mine? But not a beard. I don’t remember her having a beard.” He cocked his head to the side, nose scrunched up as he tried to remember.

Guillermo was at a loss, so he simply shrugged and said in an exasperated voice, “So, why is _this_ like that movie?”

“The scene where the girl and the boy are doing kissy things on the bed, and her father walks in?” He walked two fingers in the air. “And then he scares off the boy, and the boy jumps out of the window, and then the father saws off the girl’s head with the big buzzy knife?”

Guillermo squinted. “A chainsaw?”

“Is that what you use to cut the meatloaves?” Nandor was making sawing gestures.

“I don’t think I ever saw this movie.”

“Ugh!” Nandor threw his hands up in the air. “The man has the knife-stake, and he cuts out the girl’s brain and he eats it. Or maybe it was her heart. Wait, was it her father? Or was it the boy who killed her?” He waved his hands as if to dismiss the entire thing. “Guillermo – I feel like the girl’s daddy in that movie. I walked out of my room, and saw my daughter being canoodled by a five-hundred-year-old vampire who _also_ happens to be my friend, who I _also_ happened to have vampire sex with on several occasions.”

“ _Daughter_?” Guillermo laughed. One of those great, insanity-laced laughs that eventually descends into the giggles of a madman. He wished he _was_ mad. Let him live out the rest of his life in the confines of his head; at least Nandor wasn’t a complete idiot in there. Or was _he_ the idiot? Had this just been one huge miscommunication, as it often was with Nandor; a result of the cultural and societal gap of seven hundred years between them? Tears sprang to Guillermo’s eyes, but he made himself look at Nandor. “Is that all I am to you? A…a child?”

“No!” Nandor groaned, exasperated. “It is more like…imagine you are the father.”

“ _What?_ ” Guillermo sniffed, perplexed.

“Let me finish, Guillermo!” Nandor admonished, before lowering his voice. “You are the father, and I am the mother, and I walk into the room and I see you sawing our daughter’s head off with the meat-trimmer and I get angry because I really want you to be sawing _my_ head off and not some… _other_ person. You see?” He smiled, content with his explanation.

Guillermo felt the giggles bubble up his throat again, and when he saw the triumphant look on Nandor’s face, it took all of his self-control to keep them fully at bay. Even then, his eyes were stinging with tears of mirth. He took a step towards the vampire, close enough that he had to tilt his head up in order to see his face. He straightened his shoulders and coughed again, struggling to keep a straight face. “That’s a pretty weird, roundabout way of saying you’re jealous,” he said matter-of-factly.

Nandor looked appalled. “I am _not_ jealous, Guillermo!”

Guillermo grinned. “No, you’re an idiot,” he teased, and before Nandor had the chance to react to that; before Guillermo could stop to even consider what he was doing; he was on his tiptoes, palms flat against the vampire’s chest, gingerly pressing his lips to Nandor’s. He was embarrassed by how dry his lips were, but when he made to move away, Nandor’s own moist lips followed him. “Fucking guy,” he growled, before stilling him with a hand on either cheek and opening his mouth to deepen the kiss.

It felt as if all the blood had rushed from Guillermo’s veins and into his heart, leaving the rest of him weak. Their lips met and parted over and over, pressing and sighing away like waves against the shore. There were waves roiling in his stomach, too; they washed away the nervous tension, replacing it with a deep, almost painful desire. He tried to focus on Nandor’s lips, but he was all-too aware of sensations elsewhere – namely his groin. Their bodies were hardly touching, yet every tiny brush of Nandor’s legs against the growing hardness in his jeans had his lower stomach singing.

When Nandor finally pulled away, Guillermo let out an embarrassing whimper and locked his arms around the vampire’s neck. He’d have to _pry_ him off to get away, he decided. But Nandor didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Instead, he looked down at his ex-familiar and smiled.

“I am a better kisser than Laszlo, aren’t I?” he said haughtily.

Guillermo almost rolled his eyes. Had he expected anything else from this man? “You know that wasn’t real, right?” he said with a half-serious frown. “Laszlo was only trying to make you jealous. Uh…for my sake...” He hesitated, trying to find the right words quickly. “He wanted to make you jealous, so that you’d realise you really did want…me…” he trailed off, realising just how bad that sounded. His cheeks started to burn.

“Guillermo!” Nandor admonished, but made no attempt to disentangle himself. “You didn’t need to go playing games with me. We could have talked about this.”

Guillermo choked on more laughter. He looked at Nandor in disbelief, but simply shook his head. He wasn’t getting into an argument over this. Laszlo’s voice rang in his mind: _Be a Nandor. Don’t think, just do_.

So he did just that, and pulled Nandor down to his level, their lips crushing together. This kiss was far more heated than the last, now that he knew the vampire _probably_ wasn’t going to run away. He tightened his grip around Nandor’s neck, sinking further against his body, eliciting a breathy moan from him that was utterly thrilling. Then Nandor nudged Guillermo’s tongue with his, and suddenly their mouths were opening for each other, their tongues prodding and exploring, their teeth occasionally dashing together. It was a wonder that Guillermo’s lips weren’t cut open when he finally tore away for breath.

He was straining in his trousers now. His clothes felt far too constricting. It was a pain unlike any he had ever felt, and he almost laughed again. How ironic it was that he finally had Nandor in his arms, the master-familiar bond apparently shattered and forged into something stronger and more intimate, and yet his longing for him had blossomed tenfold. Somehow, he wanted him now more than ever…in more _ways_ than ever. Nandor seemed just as fervent. Even as Guillermo tilted his head away and tried to catch his breath, the vampire had his arms tightly wrapped around his waist and was showering his cheeks and forehead and chin with light kisses, as if desperate to make up for the years of torturous yearning **.**

“Nandor,” Guillermo breathed, and with a pang of uncertainty he slid his hands away from his back and rested them on his chest. Nandor stopped his pecking and looked down at him expectantly. “I need to know,” Guillermo said, meeting his gaze. “What you wrote in that letter. Was it all true?” He held his breath while he searched Nandor’s eyes, secretly pleading with him. Nandor’s grip tightened around his waist, but he stayed silent; he looked worried. Guillermo went on in a rush, unable to stop himself. “I don’t care if you never turn me into a vampire. I can live with that now, and I know I can’t force you to do anything you feel isn’t—”

“Guillermo,” Nandor said quietly, the man’s plea reflected in his own eyes.

“I’ve realised now, vampire or not, that it’s _you_ I have wanted all this time,” Guillermo continued, ignoring him. His face already felt on fire; if he paused now, he’d freeze up, and he’d never be able to finish. “And if you didn’t want me back, then I could probably live with that, too. But I…I feel like you _do_ want me…and…” he was starting to sniffle, the tears springing back into his eyes. He secretly cursed himself. “Well, human life is short. And I…I want to spend it with you. As your…your lover, boyfriend, partner…however you want it. I just want to be with you. If you want me in that way. Please…just tell me, one way or the other.” He sucked in a deep breath and held it, hardly believing he’d found the courage to say what he just had.

Nandor looked at him for a moment, deliberating. Then he leaned down and kissed him again, warmly, gently, no trace of fierce passion like before. It was a kiss that held a message. “I’m not good with words like you are,” he murmured against his lips, and Guillermo let out a shaky laugh, thinking it was a jab at him. But when he pulled back, Nandor was serious. “But I could _show_ you,” he offered, and ran a thumb gently along Guillermo’s jawline.

A thrill tingled down his spine, and when he spoke, his voice quivered. “Tonight?”

A brief smile flittered over Nandor’s face and left a warm sparkle in his eye. He gave a small nod. “Tonight.”


	3. We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nandor shows Guillermo that he really does care. Things reach melted-toffee-levels of sweetness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second-last chapter! (Most likely) Decided to break one chapter up into two, so there will be one more after this, and possibly an epilogue. 
> 
> Things get really sappy this chapter. Like sickeningly sweet. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
> 
> Once again, huge huge thank you for the comments and kudos! You readers keep me writing! <33

_We'll crucify the insincere tonight_

_Tonight  
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight_

_Tonight  
We'll find a way to offer up the night _

_Tonight…_   
  


Guillermo awoke with a start, the echoes of a loud noise fading in his ears. Had he really heard the bang, or just dreamt it? The first thing he noticed as the haze of sleep dissolved, was that he was alone in bed. His heart jumped as he quickly thought back to the night’s events, trying to put them all in place, to make certain that he hadn’t dreamt _those_. He began to relax as his senses came back to him. His body was still fuzzy with the afterglow of release. A thin trail of dried fluid clumped his usually-wispy chest hair together, and he bit back a giggle at the memory. It hadn’t been a dream after all; Guillermo’s dreams about Nandor were always _far_ more romantic than what had transpired tonight. He sagged against his pillow with relief, grinning madly. He could still taste Nandor on the back of his tongue.

He lay still for a few minutes before rolling onto his side to pick up his phone. The clock on the screen was inching closer to 1am. Nandor and the others would still be awake. He dropped the phone back on the nightstand and debated with himself. Part of him wanted to get up and go see him, but the other part felt too shy. Maybe he’d left after Guillermo had fallen asleep because he needed some time alone, to think. Maybe he was out hunting. Either way, Guillermo was confident that his housemates were safe. And besides, he was cosy and warm under the covers, and all he wanted to do was rewind his brain back to a few hours ago, when everything was bliss.

They hadn’t made love; not in the true sense of the term. Guillermo wasn’t ready for that, and neither did Nandor seem to be. Maybe he wanted to take things slow, or keep his lover’s scent virginal for a little while longer. The way the vampire had buried his nose in the crook of Guillermo’s neck and inhaled deeply – on multiple occasions – made him think that he _really_ liked his scent. His stomach fluttered at the memory: Nandor’s lips and tongue roving over his neck, his teeth occasionally (albeit cautiously) scraping against the soft skin there. The desire unfurling deep in Guillermo’s stomach with each press of their lips and their bodies. Nandor’s weight crushing him into the mattress, the bulge in his trousers causing Guillermo to involuntarily buck his hips in want every time he felt it. Their slow kisses; their hands drifting together, fingers entwining, squeezing. The rhythmic push of Nandor’s hips against his groin, while both of them were still fully clothed. The torment of being separated by thin sheets of fabric. That sweet, maddening ache.

And then they were naked; hands roaming, sweeping, raking, grabbing; the desperation evident in the way they mapped each other out with fingers and lips. Heavy sighs; gentle moans. Every touch held meaning, and Guillermo had tried to commit each to memory.

Presently his face heated up as he thought back to the feeling of Nandor’s cock beside his own, and how gratifying it had felt to rub against the nest of hair there, the friction dizzying. At one point, Nandor had pulled away with a knowing smirk, and coasted his lips down Guillermo’s chest.

After that, Guillermo had felt sensations that he didn’t even _know_ he could feel: Nandor’s tongue flicking over each nipple, teasing them until they were painfully erect; Guillermo whimpering and bucking his hips, clawing at the bedsheets. The pleasure that rocked him as the vampire dragged his tongue through the line of fine hair that trailed down his torso, before stopping to kiss around his navel, and then nuzzle his pubic hair. By that point, Guillermo’s cock was leaking precum and he was getting closer, high on pleasure and anticipation.

It was amazing he had managed to last as long as he did, even if it was for an embarrassingly short time. He remembered how _good_ the ache felt, when Nandor began to tease him again, running light kisses up the length of his cock, making it jump. He had wanted to plead, to beg for his mouth, but he couldn’t get anything out except tortured moans.

And finally Nandor had taken him in his mouth, and Guillermo had arched his back, his hand automatically rushing down to clutch at the vampire’s hair. He could scarcely breathe as Nandor’s lips enveloped him and began to move forward and back, his tongue flat against the underside of his impossibly hard cock. Nandor clenched a fist around the base and began to pump, and behind his closed eyes Guillermo saw bursts of colour.

The vampire was almost _swallowing_ him, his throat surprisingly warm, constricting around him before loosening, then tightening again, then loosening. It was goading him, inching him closer and closer to the point of no return. A growl rumbled up from Nandor’s chest suddenly and the vibrations from it sent Guillermo over the edge. He arched his back one last time, letting out a cry that probably woke half the neighbourhood. His cock pulsed with unbridled pleasure as he spilled into Nandor’s mouth, his fists pulling and squeezing handfuls of soft hair.

“Shit,” he managed breathlessly, once the initial spasms had died away. “Wow. Shit.” He started and let out another groan when Nandor chuckled around him. The vampire swallowed, then ran his lips up his cock one last time and released him. He flicked his tongue over Guillermo’s head and the man spasmed again, his entire body twitching. His erection was beginning to flag, but Nandor kept going, grinning and lashing his tongue over his most sensitive place, unrelenting.

“Nandor,” Guillermo groaned, and loosened his grip on the vampire’s hair. “I can’t…”

Nandor responded with another chuckle; low and husky, and he kissed his way back up Guillermo’s body until their mouths met again. He could taste himself on Nandor’s lips and tongue, and it sent a shiver down his spine. He pushed Nandor away gently and sat up. “Lay down,” he instructed, his voice unusually husky. Nandor obeyed and stretched out, resting his arms behind his head. He watched his human with a warmth in his eyes that Guillermo had scarcely seen before; he was too practical to think it was love, but it was _definitely_ some sort of affection. Guillermo was tempted to straddle him and spend the entire night just kissing him, but he wanted to show Nandor the same care that he’d just been shown.

He was too shy to do anything more with his nipples except run his tongue around them, but Nandor reacted with an encouraging buck of his hips. Guillermo then worked his way down his torso, stopping to give his adorably chubby belly a series of light kisses. He felt the delicious, unexpected heat of Nandor’s cock against his chin, wet with precum, and he felt his own cock twitch; but he was beyond spent.

Timidly, he grasped the base of Nandor’s erection– there was no way he could fit the full length of him in his mouth; unlike vampires, humans had to breathe. Nandor hissed a sigh through his teeth, as if relieved. A bearish hand snaked around to rest on the back of Guillermo’s head, and he gently coaxed the man into taking him into his mouth.

Guillermo tried to stay his trembling hand as he slid his lips over Nandor’s shaft, tasting him for the first time. The soapy sweetness of his skin soon got buried beneath the saltiness of his precum, and Guillermo pulled away in surprise. He had never done this before; he had never even stopped to consider how this might feel or taste. He glanced up at Nandor’s face. The vampire was watching him with hooded eyes, his expression lazy and impassive. One hand was still tucked behind his own head, and the other gently stroked Guillermo’s hair. Affection bloomed in his heart as he found himself lost in Nandor’s dark eyes.

“You can just use your hand if you prefer,” Nandor murmured, his voice low and rumbling. “It will still feel good to me.”

Guillermo shook his head quickly, eyes wide. “I want to do this,” he breathed. “I’m just…new to it.” Before Nandor could reply, he ducked his head and wrapped his mouth around him again. At first he experimented with his tongue, sliding it up and down the shaft, which elicited quiet moans from Nandor that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Then he began to move his mouth, bobbing his head while sliding his hand up and down the base of Nandor’s cock.

Soon the vampire was squirming, and it filled Guillermo with delight, knowing that he could elicit such responses from such a powerful being. It made _him_ feel powerful. His ministrations became more confident then, and he quickened his pace until his jaw was aching. Nandor’s hand scratched at his scalp and he bucked his hips, no longer stifling his moans. At one point, he’d bucked a little too hard and made Guillermo gag and quickly release him, and Nandor had laughed. But when Guillermo took him in again, the vampire growled low, and in a throaty voice said, “I’m close, Guillermo.”

Only moments later did he pull on Guillermo’s hair and curse loudly, his seed spurting against the back of his lover’s throat. Guillermo gagged and quickly pulled away, coughing and spluttering **,** feeling a sticky trickle escape his lips and drip onto his chest. Nandor took himself in hand to see himself to completion, since Guillermo had distractedly moved away to wipe at his mouth. More hot liquid spattered against his chest as Nandor pumped, and then the vampire was done. He tilted his head back and roared with laughter, and Guillermo startled, his cheeks going bright red. He swallowed down the salty taste on his tongue and swiped at his mouth again, deeply embarrassed.

Nandor propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at Guillermo fondly. “You didn’t like that?” he asked, the sides of his eyes crinkling in amusement.

“Oh, no!” Guillermo choked out. “No, it was fine. Just…surprising. I’ve never done this before, Nandor.” He was ashamed by the beseeching tone in his voice, but he really didn’t want to upset him. Nandor just smiled, his eyes beckoning. Guillermo reached for his shirt and used it to clumsily wipe at his chest before flinging it on the floor. He crawled up the bed and curled himself against Nandor, nuzzling into the crook of his arm. Nandor lifted the arm and put it around him, but continued to stare at the ceiling. They lay like that, unspeaking, for a long time.

Guillermo ran his fingers lightly through Nandor’s thick chest hair while focusing on the smouldering heat in his belly, and the resulting fuzziness that warmed his entire body. He was hyperaware of every little movement Nandor made; every twinge of muscle and brush of his fingers. But at the same time, his mind was growing drowsy, edging closer and closer to sleep. It felt as though a lifetime of tension had dissipated within the space of minutes, and it left him with a sort of comfortable emptiness that he welcomed. A great sense of relief.

He was starting to get cold – Nandor’s body didn’t retain heat all that well. The vampire must have noticed because he reached for the blankets and pulled them over them both. Guillermo nuzzled closer against his chest and let a sigh escape.

“Does it ever get boring for you?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation. “What we just did, I mean. And other things… like sex.” He could feel himself blushing. He hoped he wasn’t overstepping some unspoken boundary by speaking so freely.

“Do you think I was bored?” Nandor asked, a hint of concern in his voice. He twisted his head down to face him, brow furrowed.

Guillermo propped himself up on an elbow to get a better view of him. “No! It just crossed my mind. I mean, seven hundred years of…well…you must have done _everything_ by now.” He let out a shaky laugh and lowered his gaze, his blush deepening. And then a revelation hit him, and his smile faltered. “There isn’t anything, you know, that I could show you…that you haven’t done before.”

Nandor rolled onto his side to face him fully, so that their noses were almost touching. Guillermo thought he was going to kiss him, but before he could close his eyes, the vampire spoke. “Yes, it gets boring sometimes,” he said earnestly, staring him in the eyes. “But I was _not_ bored tonight, Guillermo. Tonight felt like something new.” He brushed a thumb over the man’s lips, thinking. “And you’re wrong – there are things you have shown me that are new to me. At least, new in this life…” he trailed off.

Guillermo raised an eyebrow in disbelief. It wasn’t like they’d been extremely adventurous tonight; they’d kissed and fondled and sucked each other off. “With all the vampire orgies you’ve been to, I kind of doubt that,” he said, trying to keep his tone as agreeable as possible

“You said you love me, didn’t you?” It was difficult to tell whether Nandor’s words were a question or a statement. Guillermo’s breath hitched in his throat as the weight of that sentence sunk in. He leaned over and caught Nandor’s lips in his; but the kiss was brief, Nandor pulling away and looking at him with such unguarded affection that Guillermo thought his heart might just burst. “You want to be with me,” the vampire continued, and Guillermo nodded spiritedly, unable to get any words past the lump forming in his throat. A small, crooked smile lit Nandor’s face. “Then that is something new,” he said, a little shyly. “And the sexy times will feel a lot better knowing that you feel that way about me.”

Guillermo was fairly melting by now; in all his thirty years, he had never felt this level of adoration. He wanted to pour his heart and soul out to Nandor, to tell him how much he loved him, how much he meant to him. He wanted to somehow connect their hearts and minds, to become one with him. But he also didn’t want to scare him away, so he simply smiled and gave him a sweet kiss on his stubbly cheek, then nestled back into his arms. He closed his eyes and focused on Nandor’s fingers tracing gently over his back. Within moments, he had fallen asleep.

It all played through Guillermo’s mind now as he lay alone in bed, listening out for signs of life. There was a stupid little smile on his face, but he couldn’t help it; this dream – this _desire_ that he had pined over for so many years had finally come to fruition tonight. Nandor was his; he was Nandor’s. There was no doubt in his mind now that his ex-master wanted him, that he felt some kind of affection for him. He had all but admitted he wanted to be with him. That thought alone left Guillermo’s head spinning. He closed his eyes and sank into the blissful memories once more.

He was nowhere close to sleep when another loud bang startled him into sitting up. His heart leapt into his throat and he could hardly hear a thing over the rush of blood in his ears. Still, he tried to pinpoint where the sound had come from. There was a moment’s silence, and then a heavy _dragging_ noise – wood splintering against wood. Guillermo grabbed for his glasses and shot to his feet, snatching up the stake he kept beside his bed. He almost burst through the door before remembering he was stark naked, and quickly shrugged on a robe on his way out. He was halfway down the stairs when he spotted Nandor hauling a large daybed across the foyer. He gently placed the stake on one of the steps and then slowed his descent in order to watch.

“What are you doing?” he asked tiredly when he reached the bottom. The cold seeped into his dressing gown and he felt strangely exposed. He suddenly wished for the warmth and comfort of his bed, but his curiosity was piqued. Nandor was in a simple off-white tunic and deerskin pants, his hair loose and a little tangled. He’d been dragging the heavy piece of furniture towards the basement steps, but now he stopped and dropped his end with a loud thud.

“Guillermo!” he exclaimed. “I thought you were asleep!”

Guillermo couldn’t help the smile that twitched on his lips. “It’s hard to sleep with all this noise. Do you need any help?” He secretly hoped Nandor would refuse; he wasn’t sure how much of a help he could be half-asleep and wrapped only in a thin robe.

“No! I am perfectly capable of dragging this bed by myself,” the vampire said stubbornly.

“Why can’t you just pick it up? Carry it over your head?” Guillermo offered. “That way you won’t wake the neighbours.”

“It’s a very awkward piece of furniture,” Nandor explained in the same bull-headed tone as before. “I might be tremendously strong, but I could fall down the stairs.” He put his hands on his hips and huffed. “Go back to bed, Guillermo. You need to rest. I was going to wake you before sunrise.”

Guillermo smirked at his stubbornness but relented, heading for the staircase. He was still half asleep and could use a few more hours’ slumber before Nandor roused him for assistance into his coffin. Before he reached the bottom step, though, a large white plastic bag caught his eye. It sat near the foot of the staircase, partially obscured by the first step. Guillermo balked. Had Nandor gone out? Since when did he do his own shopping?

_I shouldn’t pry_ , he thought, but his curiosity got the better of him. And he thought back to not so long ago, when he’d returned from his own shopping trip only to be interrogated by Nandor. Decidedly, he made a beeline for the bag and snatched it up. “You went shopping by yourself?” he asked casually. Did he even know how to _pay_ for things?

There was another loud thud as Nandor dropped the bed again. “Ah! Guillermo!” he yelled sternly. “Put that down. That is…private things.”

But Guillermo had already opened the bag and peered inside. He raised an eyebrow at the contents. Several pristine white towels, rolled up neatly. A handful of squat candles in little jars (frangipani scented, he noted). _Real_ massage oil. Was Nandor actually preparing something romantic for them? Did he plan to take his virginity? _This morning,_ before sunrise _?_ He dug under the towels, noticing other things…and stopped short. Excedrin? Cold gel compresses? A _first aid kit_? Confused, he glanced over his shoulder at Nandor. The vampire’s face was contorted with an awkward grimace that showed his teeth. He looked ever the child who’d been caught doing something naughty.

“Painkillers, Nandor?” Guillermo questioned, turning to face him fully, the bag swinging from his fingers.

Nandor’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. For a moment he struggled to speak. Guillermo couldn’t remember a time when the vampire was actually speechless, nor this uncomfortable. He placed the bag down gently and went to meet him by the daybed. He put a hand on Nandor’s forearm, coaxing him into speaking.

“I-I thought the Ex-er-din might help the pain. If you take it beforehand,” he explained, his voice soft and hesitant. Their eyes met, and Guillermo was taken aback by the look of sorrow in Nandor’s. “It’s very painful, Guillermo,” he whispered gravely. “You think you have an idea of what it will be like, but you don’t.”

Tears sprang to Guillermo’s eyes unbidden, and he tried to swallow the massive, raw lump that had formed in his throat. “This isn’t for…for sex, is it?” He blushed at the very mention of the word despite himself.

Nandor’s own eyes were shining, whether with tears or some kind of indecipherable emotion. “You said you wanted to spend your life with me,” he muttered. “I thought…well you don’t have to, of course…but I thought I would prepare it all just in case—”

“I want to!” Guillermo squeaked, not even caring to curse himself for the high-pitched voice. “I’ve never wanted anything more, Nandor. You know that.”

“Yes. And I know you have had a long time to think about this,” the vampire said, though with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Guillermo nodded eagerly. “Years,” he breathed. He stood on his tiptoes and chanced a kiss, his heart speeding up as Nandor returned it, briefly slipping his tongue inside before pulling away. Heat rose in Guillermo’s stomach, mixing with the sudden disquiet he felt, causing his heart to work even faster. “Now?” he asked, then held his breath. This was a touchy subject; he didn’t want Nandor to change his mind like he was wont to do.

Nandor shook his head almost imperceptibly. “Tomorrow night,” he said, in a voice that left no room for argument. “You need to see your last sunrise, Guillermo. That is why I was going to wake you before I retired for the day.”

“Oh,” Guillermo sighed, and suddenly his eyes were brimming with tears again. He wouldn’t be able to keep these ones at bay for long. His eyes darted to the daybed. “The basement?” he queried.

“The safest place,” Nandor explained gently. “The window is small and boarded up. There won’t be any sunlight. And I can stay with you, while you…” he trailed off and averted his gaze.

Guillermo slid his arms around the vampire’s waist, pulling him as close as he could, squeezing him tightly and burying his face in his shirt. Tears wet the thin fabric. “I’ll only go through with it if you are comfortable doing it,” he sniffed. Nandor returned the hug, resting his bearded chin on the man’s head.

“And if I’m not?” he asked hoarsely. It seemed more a hypothetical question, but Guillermo’s stomach still dropped. More tears fell.

“Then I’ll just have to make the most of our time together,” he whispered, feeling himself blush again. “You’re the only one that can give me this gift. I couldn’t accept it from anyone else.”

“I wouldn’t let anyone else give it to you,” Nandor rumbled, and Guillermo let out a shaky laugh. They pulled away from each other and Nandor bowed his head, almost shyly. “I wish I could share it with you. The sunrise.”

“It’s okay,” Guillermo said, offering a little smile. “We can always watch them on Youtube.”

Nandor gave an amused grunt at that, and pecked him on the forehead. “Now, time to get back to sleep, Guillermo!” he ordered, his usual demanding tone returning, but without some of its edge. “I can handle this bed all by myself, thank you.”

Guillermo stifled a teary laugh and headed for the stairs, his heart doing leaps. Nandor had intended to keep it a surprise until everything was set up, but he was _still_ astounded. He’d pretty much given up on this particular dream, and yet now, out of the blue, it was happening. _It was happening_. How was he going to get an ounce of sleep now? His head was floating in the clouds, thinking of all the possibilities of an endless future. A future with Nandor by his side.


	4. The indescribable moments of your life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nandor tries his hand at home décor. Colin Robinson talks about ducks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok…ONE MORE CHAPTER AFTER THIS (and then probably a short epilogue). I decided to split it up into two chapters again because this was just getting really long. Boy can I ramble. I was actually going to cut out the first half with Nandor’s attempts at home décor, but I couldn’t bring myself to. Hopefully it’s not too boring! I just wanted something light-hearted before things got all sad and sappy and feely. Nandor has Deep Thoughts™ which is kind of OOC for him, but it’s an important occasion, so…
> 
> Thank you so, so much to the people who have read and left comments and kudos! Your feedback has seriously been a shining light in what has admittedly been some tough times, so I really appreciate it.

_…The indescribable moments of your life_

_Tonight_

_The impossible is possible tonight_

_Tonight..._

****************************

Nandor circled the little basement room in dismay. It wouldn’t _do_. It was a miserable, cold, dank place with ugly concrete walls and a hard, icy concrete floor and old creaky steps and there was a stack of ancient, splintered coffins against one wall. The ceiling was covered in mildew and flecks of rat shit adorned the rotting shelves that lined the back wall. What was on those shelves Nandor couldn’t place – big tins with drippy oily stuff coming out of them, some kind of rusted machine with the buzzy blade. What had Guillermo called that one? A chainsaw? There was a blowy thing, too; Guillermo used that to put the leaves in piles for some reason. It was like a giant version of the nice warm blowy thing that Guillermo sometimes used on Nandor’s hair after he took a bath. But the things on this crooked old shelf were _not_ nice. He didn’t want this room to be the first thing Guillermo woke up to as a vampire.

His own crypt was too small; he couldn’t possibly fit the big daybed in there along with his coffin (and there was no suitable second coffin for Guillermo. He would have to do something about that, he mused). The other rooms – save for Nadja and Laszlo’s – were not safe enough. The windows were boarded up of course, but they were large and could be broken into easily, and if the boards were to come loose, then the rooms would fill with sunlight. Nandor couldn’t recall at what point the sun became lethal in the turning process, but he wasn’t about to take risks.

They had little choice in his mind but the basement room. Guillermo was going to wake up to the smell of old paint mixed with the fetor of gas; the first thing he would see would be a dim candle-lit room with lichen-spotted walls and a pile of old coffins. Like a true crypt.

Nandor knitted his brow as he tried to think. A memory came drifting into his mind, the edges hazy, and with it the beginnings of an idea. When he was still human and conquering countries, he would slumber and bathe and receive guests in large pavilions, set up in what were often unsightly surroundings: mud, blood, fallen bodies, shrieking women, fires, shrieking women on fire…but his _Mihter-bashi_ always made sure his resting place was cosy and snug and cushiony, or Nandor would chop their hands off.

“I could make this cosy for Guillermo…” he thought aloud, tapping his chin. His head was beginning to hurt with all this consideration, but he pushed through it determinedly. He stuck a finger in the air. “Yes! Nandor the Relentless will make the basement into a tent fit for a merciless, undefeated warrior!”

He stomped up the stairs and into the library where he could hear muffled voices. Nadja sat on one of the lounges, the laptop machine resting on her skirt. She was tapping furiously at a key, her face screwed up behind her glasses as the machine dinged at her repeatedly. Laszlo’s head was in his hands, clearly exasperated by his wife’s attempts at puzzling out technology. He lifted his head when he heard Nandor enter.

“Nadja! Laszlo!” the vampire greeted in an inappropriately loud voice. “Does this house contain a spare tub?”

Laszlo squinted at him almost painfully, as if he were fighting a shocker of a migraine. “What the bloody hell do you want with a spare tub?”

“You didn’t fill the other one with blood again, did you?” Nadja mumbled distractedly, before letting out a howl and baring her fangs at the screen. “Nandor! Where is Gizmo? I am trying to get to the E-bay and all of these exotic women want to talk to me! Who is…Carmina? And why does she want to show me her breasts?”

“Guillermo is asleep,” Nandor said, then added sternly, “and _no_ , I will not wake him again. Did you try pressing control and alt?”

Laszlo perked up all of a sudden. “I say, Nandor, judging by all the lewd noises we could hear earlier, my ripper of a plan worked?” His eyes sparkled knowingly.

Nadja made a disgusted face at that, but her eyes were still on the screen as she arbitrarily punched down keys, half a dozen photos of barely-clothed women reflected in her lenses.

Nandor hesitated. He did not want to divulge too much information right now. At least not until after Guillermo was turned. “Uh…yes, I mean _no_. Guillermo seems to be very interested in the pornography lately. I will have to politely ask him to turn down the volume…”

“Listen, I couldn’t care less what you two are up to,” Laszlo said, waving a hand flippantly.

“I could,” Nadja mumbled with a grimace. “Maybe gag him next time?”

“I do that sometimes to the really loud victims,” Laszlo offered with an encouraging nod. “You know, the screamers?”

“Guillermo is not food!” Nandor shouted, far more vexedly than he’d intended. This whole turning-Guillermo thing was really getting his nerves all bunched up. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so high-strung. He took a deep breath (technically he did not need to breathe, but it still had a calming effect), and then let it out and spoke evenly. “Does the house come with a spare tub?”

“No idea,” Nadja said distractedly. “Laszlo?”

“You think I have any fucking idea where anything is in this house?” Laszlo retorted.

“Maybe ask Colin Robinson,” Nadja said. “He came with the house.”

Nandor’s tummy sunk at the thought of approaching the energy vampire. He needed all his juice for what was going to happen tomorrow night. But he wanted Guillermo to be able to take a nice hot bath without having to drag him to and from the bathroom and spilling blood everywhere. A shrill cry from Nadja tore him out of his thoughts, and he jumped a little when she tossed the machine off her lap. She jumped to her feet and pointed accusingly at it.

“It is telling me I have a virus!” she shrieked.

“Don’t be silly, dear, vampires can’t catch viruses,” Laszlo assured her.

“No?” Nadja spat back. “ _No_!? Well tell that to…to _Mister Norton_!” She hissed at the screen and Laszlo groaned, wearily getting to his feet.

Nandor decided to take his leave; he wasn’t about to get involved with the cursed machine again. Mr Norton could be Bloody Mary’s father or husband for all they knew! He shuddered and quickened his pace. He would have to get to Colin Robinson before Nadja implored the energy vampire to help her with her sudden sickness.

He went back down to the little hallway that separated the four rooms of the basement, and gingerly knocked on Colin Robinson’s door. It was almost 2am and Nandor was very quickly running out of time. He hoped that Colin was home, and awake (he could only assume Colin kept to human sleeping routines; he’d never actually cared enough to find out). There was silence on the other side of the door. Nandor bit his lip and lifted his fist to knock louder, but suddenly the door swung open and there stood Colin in his pyjamas. Nandor stifled a startled cry. Colin looked about as awake as Colin always looked.

“Colin, hi,” Nandor said with an uneasy grin. He gave a little wave.

“Nandor!” Colin greeted. “Nice to see you, man. I rarely get visitors. Did you want to come in? I’ve really done the place up since I moved in here. Even added a new painting. Not an original of course, just a replica. It’s a Giorgio Morandi. I really like the muted palette. Browns, greys, whites—”

Only now did Nandor realise he’d been unwittingly cajoled into Colin’s little bedroom, and he cursed inwardly, his polite grin wavering.

“Oh, yes,” Nandor said as Colin gestured to the little replica adorning his otherwise bare wall. “It’s…very nice. I don’t have much time, Colin. I just came here to ask, does the house have a spare tub?”

Colin adjusted his glasses and raised an eyebrow. “Spare _bathtub_ , you mean? What do you need a spare tub for, anyway?”

Nandor’s grin turned into a grimace. He had been expecting this question, yet he still hadn’t thought of a good excuse. “I want to…raise ducks,” he said at length, before quickly adding, “and it is too cold outside for them! They are only babies!”

“Ducks, hey?” Colin nodded, unfazed by the strange explanation. “What breed? I’ve heard that pekin ducks are friendly. And they can live for up to twelve years. I guess that’s not a long time by vampire standards, though. Heh. Also, Muscovy ducks; that is, _Cairina moschata_ —”

“Colin, _please_!” Nandor sulked, feeling suddenly lethargic. “They are the brown and black ones or something. I don’t know!”

“Ack,” Colin said, pulling a face. “You sure you haven’t accidentally adopted Canada geese? Because _those_ things…”

“Do we have a bathtub!?” Nandor shouted, his patience long spent and his energy dissipating by the second.

“Hmm.” Colin’s consideration was painfully slow. “Nope, can’t say we do,” he decided after a while. “But I did score a neat blow-up pool from the last orgy. Remember, the one at Marjorie’s?”

Nandor made a face at that. “Is it…clean?”

“Oh yeah, the pool itself is clean,” Colin assured him, and he got on all fours and reached under his bed. “The plastic balls they had in it? Not so much. I threw them out. But I guess ducks don’t need plastic balls, do they? Unless they’re plastic ducks, heh.”

“No, they are very _real_ ducks, Colin Robinson,” Nandor muttered through clenched teeth. Colin said ‘heh’ again and slid out a large rectangular box.

“There you go,” he said, handing it to his housemate. “Your ducks are sure to love it. Look, there’s even pictures of little ducks on the side. And sea creatures. Which is amusing, because ducks don’t live in saltwater. I think the pool was made for kids though, not ducks, so—”

“Thank you, Colin,” Nandor said wearily. “I will be going now.” He trudged out the door, desperate to get away from the energy vampire but too exhausted to hurry. Part of him wanted to turn back around and ask him why he’d kept a kiddie’s pool from an orgy under his bed for half a year, but the resulting conversation would probably drain him for the next three days.

And he had a familiar to attend to.

He took the box into the room he’d picked out for Guillermo. It was the largest room in the basement, which was why he’d chosen it, despite the little box window near the ceiling (which had now been very securely covered and boarded up). The other rooms, barring Colin’s, were nothing more than storage closets filled with various boxes and ancient junk. Nandor set up the pool, ever grateful that it came with its own foot pumpy thing, because he was _exhausted_ from Colin’s draining. As it grew it took on the shape of a puffy rectangle. It was a little bigger than a bathtub, at least. And there were yellow ducks and pink crabs and blue jellyfish on it, all with happy little smiles, which was nice. It looked very cosy. No questionable stains, either.

Nandor finished pumping and stood back to admire his work, but then his eyes fell on the dingy walls again, and he felt the cold seep in through his boots and a droplet of water from the ceiling splashed onto his nose. He sighed and tapped his chin again. A memory formed in his mind, of his tent’s soft, comfortable cot back in his conquering days. He had a number of concubines, and his men would get very jealous of his virility and handsomeness and sometimes try to steal the women, so he’d commanded curtains be hung around his ample pile of cushions.

“I can use curtains to make a tent!” Nandor declared proudly, and the basement’s single lightbulb flickered above his head in response, as if sharing in his epiphany. He hurried up the steps again and began to search through cupboards. Surely Guillermo kept a stockpile of curtains _somewhere_. He found a neat pile of folded ones in one of the linen cupboards outside of the laundry room. There were heavy velvet ones whose colour reminded Nandor of the night sky, and there were sheer pink-orange ones, made of a thin papery material that looked quite pretty, albeit useless at keeping out sunlight. He snatched them all up and rested them between his arms and chin as he hurried back to the basement. He was making his way through the foyer, trying to rack his brains for a way to hang the curtains from the ceiling, when Nadja stopped him in his tracks.

“ _Nandor_!” she huffed. Nandor tried to make it to the basement steps before she could continue, but she simply followed him down. “What are you doing, running back and forth like a sneaky little fieldmouse? Why do you have so many sheets? Did you hit an artery again?”

“They’re curtains, Nadja!” Nandor corrected, spinning around to face her and immediately cursing himself for his loose tongue.

“Curtains?” Nadja made a face and plucked the top one off the pile – one of the peach-coloured ones. “Has this got something to do with Gizmo?” she probed knowingly, then tossed the curtain back on the pile. “Whatever the case, you better finish up quickly. You know what happens when you don’t get to bed on time.” She wagged a finger at him. “You get all ornery.”

“Ornery, eh?” Colin Robinson’s voice startled both vampires, and Nadja growled at him. The energy vampire was leaning against his doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, as if he’d been standing there the whole time. “Funny word, that—uh, what’s with all the curtains? There aren’t that many windows down here, buddy.” He gave a little chuckle.

Nandor groaned and almost dropped his pile of fabric in despair. There was no way he could get the basement looking like a comfortable battle tent in the little time he had left! Especially with Colin’s persistent draining!

Unless…

He sighed and glanced down the short hallway, into the room he was trying to decorate. This was for Guillermo, he had to remind himself. Surely he could tamp down on his pride for just _one_ tiny moment? He bit his lip, deliberating. Nadja and Colin watched him expectantly, as if they too knew what he was debating in his mind.

Nandor made his decision quickly, before Colin had the chance to strike up a conversation. “Nadja? C-Colin Robinson—” he said the latter name through clenched teeth, “—could you perhaps…help…me?” He gave them both timid looks, struggling to meet their gazes.

Nadja huffed and rolled her eyes, before relieving Nandor of the curtains. “Tell me what you need done, you big silly donkey’s balls.”

Nandor and Colin exchanged glances, then Colin shrugged and followed her into the room. No doubt Laszlo would be down soon to make sure the virus hadn’t snatched away his lady wife. Nandor wanted to run and hide. They were going to try to squeeze the truth out of him one way or another, he knew.

And he doubted that ducks would cut it this time.

*************

Nandor had seen Guillermo asleep plenty of times in the past. For a human who lived in a house full of vampires, with the constant threat of the Vampiric Council on his shoulders, he slept quite soundly in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes, not long after falling asleep, he was plagued by nightmares, and these would manifest as frowns and kicks and slurred cries. Nandor had always wanted to wake him, to stop the bad dreams, but he’d always been too afraid. There had never been a good enough excuse to explain why he would float above his bed and just watch him.

He turned on the lamp and knelt beside the bed to watch Guillermo’s peaceful face, feeling a kind of heavy sombreness that he rarely felt. Humans – especially ones as young and naïve as Guillermo – always exuded a perceptible aura of innocence. The time-honoured trope of virgins losing their innocence upon being deflowered was a light-hearted jape when compared to the innocence lost upon turning. Guillermo would no longer be the sweet, soft-spoken boy that had first graced Nandor’s doorstep on a stormy night twelve years ago. He would no longer be able to enjoy his frozen meals or his sodas or even the Baskins and Robins. He would become immortal, but he would be forgotten over time; rendered obsolete, just like Nandor had been. And eventually he would become jaded; the only thing keeping him alive an insatiable lust for human blood. A lust that trounced the pleasures of sex and the joys of friendship and the comfort of human food. That lust would rule him for as long as he lived; and if the laws of probability were on his side, then that might just be an eternity.

Nandor’s head pounded as he considered these things and more. He was not used to such responsibility, and it made him incredibly anxious. Was he making the right decision, giving Guillermo what he thought he wanted? Would Guillermo finally be happy, or would this just make things worse? Would this tear the thin, gossamer string that currently held together their ever-changing relationship?

The doubt, the dread, the desire, the _adoration_ …these emotions were all so new to him. Twelve years of repressed feelings had suddenly come roaring to the forefront of his mind, all thanks to some stupid wise woman’s silly truth potion, and the whole thing was overwhelming and _confusing_.

He pushed this restiveness to the back of his mind and reached a hand out to brush Guillermo’s fringe away from his face. The man’s brow and lips twitched downward, and Nandor’s chest swelled with some foreign emotion that was not unpleasant. When the frown faded, Nandor did it again, hoping to elicit the same bothered response, but then Guillermo’s eyes flickered open and squinted at him.

“Nandor?” he whispered, his voice husky with sleep.

“It’s almost six,” Nandor explained softly. “The sun will rise soon.” He found himself absent-mindedly stroking Guillermo’s cheek with his thumb. Guillermo smiled at the sensation and hugged the blankets closer to himself, burying into his mattress.

“Don’t go back to sleep,” Nandor scolded gently, taking his hand away. “It’s time for wakey wakey.”

Guillermo groaned and made to roll over, but Nandor got to his feet all of a sudden and wrapped his big arms around his human, pinning him to the mattress for a brief moment before hauling him up against his chest. Guillermo half-heartedly grumbled and kicked his legs, sagging drowsily against Nandor’s chest the moment his feet touched the cold hardwood floor.

Nandor stepped back and held him at arm’s length, forcing the man to open his eyes again. Guillermo squinted at him, his face set in an unamused frown. Nandor responded to the frown with a meek smile. “Here,” he said, gingerly letting go of Guillermo and making sure he was steady before grabbing his glasses. “You need to watch the sun rise, remember?” he said as Guillermo fixed his glasses on his face. “Nadja said that the best place is probably on the roof, if you go out the attic window—”

“Yeah I’ve been on the roof before,” Guillermo slurred, and stumbled to his dresser where he began opening and closing drawers, looking for suitable clothes. He had slept in a tee and briefs, and if it weren’t for the unsavoury emotions making Nandor’s tummy churn uncomfortably, he would have had a hard time keeping his hands off him right now. As it was though, he could hardly bring himself to look. His head was wracked with guilt; tonight he would be essentially killing the man that he…he…

Nandor sighed. Guillermo was going to cease to be human tonight.

“What’s wrong?” Guillermo asked, a look of concern pinching his features. He was picking out a sweater, and Nandor could see goosebumps trailing over his arms. He was cold. Nandor wanted to warm him. But _he_ was cold. He looked down at his hands in despair. “Nandor?” Guillermo tried again. He bundled up his clothes under one arm and went to meet him. Nandor forced himself to lock eyes with his human. His lover. His _Guillermo_.

He swallowed down all the words that had been cumulating at the back of his throat and simply said, “Are you ready?” The worry in his voice was reflected in Guillermo’s eyes.

“I-I was going to take a shower first. And then put you to bed—”

“Don’t worry about me,” Nandor said, trying to feign casualness. He wasn’t fooling anyone, though. “I don’t want you to miss it.”

“Alright, I guess,” Guillermo conciliated, and smiled briefly before planting a kiss on the vampire’s stubbly cheek.

*************

Guillermo headed for the landing with his clothes and towel bundled in the crook of his arm, the promise of a hot shower beckoning. But he stopped dead in his tracks the moment he stepped out of his room. Nadja, Laszlo and Colin were waiting on the landing by the staircase, looking ever out-of-place. There was an uncharacteristic sorrow plastered on Nadja’s face for all to see, despite her obvious attempts to hide it. Colin was wearing a mostly impassive expression, aside from the hint of a smile on his lips. For once he didn’t appear to be draining anyone. Laszlo just looked uncomfortable.

“What’s going on?” Guillermo asked worriedly. Nadja and Laszlo exchanged self-conscious glances but said nothing.

Colin piped up for them. “Just here to wish you luck,” he said, rocking on his heels, hands in his pockets. “I gotta get to work soon, though. The early birds always make for a great breakfast. Speaking of which…” he took a hesitant step forward, then cautiously gave Guillermo a single pat on the shoulder. “Good luck, man. Can’t wait to drain vampire-you. Heh.” He left in a hurry down the stairs, and Guillermo rounded on Nandor.

“You told them?” he hissed.

Nandor shrugged bashfully. “They were being nosy; I had no choice!”

“Gizmo.” That was Laszlo. His voice was atypically sober. He took a little step forward and repeated Colin’s gesture. Guillermo gawked at him. “Luck,” he choked out.

“Yes,” Nadja said in a less-than-enthusiastic tone. “Next time we see you, you will probably be one of us. If Nandor doesn’t accidentally kill you.”

“Nadja!” Nandor hissed.

“I’m just saying. It’s a possibility.” She shrugged, then addressed Guillermo again, pouting. “Shame we won’t be able to force you to do our bidding anymore.”

“Mmm,” Laszlo gave a nod. “My lady wife caught a virus last night trying to bid on some lingerie. Thankfully vampires can’t get viruses. Though I wouldn’t go near her, Gizmo, because you’re not a vampire yet.”

Guillermo fought away the urge to roll his eyes. “Thank you,” he said earnestly, and suddenly his heart was in his throat and he was choking back tears.

“Ugh,” Nadja said, pulling a face. “I’m going to bed. Laszlo!”

“Yes dear,” Laszlo complied. But before he turned to follow, he looked at Guillermo with something akin to _warmth_ in his eyes. “Oh, and Gizmo?”

“Yes?”

“I hope your special power as a vampire is mouth sports, because you are a fucking _horrendous_ kisser.”

“Hey!” Nandor shouted petulantly. Guillermo bit back laughter as husband and wife made for their room. When they were out of sight, he turned to Nandor, his breathing shaky.

“I’ll see you tonight?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Nandor replied, a little glumly, and cautiously planted a light kiss on Guillermo’s cheek. “Oh, I just remembered. Don’t go into the basement today. There are…scary things down there.”

Guillermo lifted an eyebrow, unable to hide his smirk. “Oh?”

“Yes,” Nandor said quickly, nodding. “Um. There are zombies. Yes, very scary ones. If you thought Topher was scary, well, _yeesh_.” He arched his eyebrows, feigning astonishment.

“Alright,” Guillermo said with a sincere nod. “I won’t go into the basement.” He wanted to pull Nandor down for a kiss, but he was shaking all over with nerves, and there was an awkward tension in the air.

“Go,” Nandor said finally, waving him away. “See your last sunrise, then go get an ice cream from the Baskins and Robins. I will see you tonight.”


	5. Forts and Fangs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guillermo prepares to become a vampire. Nandor has good taste in music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW. I’ve had to break the ‘last chapter’ into 4 or 5 chapters (and an epilogue) because it turned out to be 15,000 words long. Woops? The whole thing is finished and edited, but I want to read through each chapter once more before posting so there may be a short break between postings, but hopefully it’ll all be up within the next 24 hours.
> 
> Here are some notes regarding the rest of the story:
> 
> 1\. I've probably poured more heart and soul into this fic than anything else I've ever written. I hope it's a decent enough read!
> 
> 2\. Still keeping with the headcanon that Nandor has a surprisingly good taste in music and loves the Smashing Pumpkins.
> 
> 3\. The cologne mentioned in this chapter is Alessandro Dell’acqua, I’m just mentioning it here because it smells really good. So go find some and sniff away.
> 
> 4\. This is a self-indulgent fic meaning that Nandor is sickeningly sweet and I’m not even sorry.
> 
> Thank you SO so much for all your feedback and kudos!! They make all the writing worth it. I hope you enjoy the ending once it's posted <3 <3

_Believe in me as I believe in you…_

_Tonight, tonight._

Guillermo didn’t see the sun rise because there was no sun. Dark clouds, swollen and heavy with rain, blocked out much of the morning light as he stepped out to greet his last day as a human. He hugged his coat closer and briefly wondered if he’d feel the cold as much once he was a vampire. The very thought of what was happening tonight got his heart pumping, and his stomach began to flutter wildly, making him a little queasy. But he’d already gone over this a million times in the past; long before Nandor had finally made his offer. He’d had plenty of time to weigh up the pros and cons, and decided long ago that giving up food and sunlight was a small price to pay in exchange for eternal life. Even the unsavoury idea of having to drink blood and kill innocent people started to look more and more appealing the more he dwelt on it; on all that he could do with his life once blessed with immortality.

There was really no question to it: all his life he had wanted to become a vampire, so much so that _fate_ had led him to working for one for over a decade. He’d idolised vampires for far longer than he’d been killing them. Helsing genes or not, _this_ was his destiny. So why did he feel so uneasy?

It was too cold for ice cream today, but Guillermo walked to Baskin and Robbins regardless and ordered a sundae. He wasn’t hungry, ironically; his stomach was churning with too much turbulence to keep down much food. He picked around cookie pieces and sucked ice cream off his spoon as he looked out the window. Behind him, the young woman behind the counter was half asleep as she piled ice cream onto cones for a group of raucous kids. Outside, a corvette raced through a red light, splashing a group of pedestrians. Music boomed from inside it, keeping a steady rhythm in beat with Guillermo’s heart. A horn blared from somewhere, followed by the distant yapping of a dog. Rain gently pattered on the ice creamery’s tin roof. It was a miserable, drizzly day; unremarkable in every way, yet oddly fitting.

Guillermo heard the group of kids thank the lady for their treats and leave, and the eatery fell silent again. He watched them step out onto the covered walkway and bicker about which direction to take. Five elementary-aged kids that would grow up and maybe have their own children and then slowly wither and drop away one by one…and Guillermo would outlive them all. And their kids. And their _kids’_ kids. For some reason that realisation hit him harder than anything else had today. He looked down at his cookies and cream, then back at the window, hoping to catch one last glimpse of them. But they were gone, and all he saw was his reflection. Soon that would be gone, too.

The rain only worsened the more the day wore on, and by afternoon the ground was reverberating with distant thunder. The atmosphere became thick and balmy, with a warmth that Guillermo welcomed.

He spent the late hours of the afternoon at the park a few blocks from the house, sitting on a bench in a small rotunda in the barbecue area, watching dogs frolic and kids run and couples hurry along the concrete path as they huddled under umbrellas. He let the few remaining sunrays that broke through the clouds settle on his outstretched legs, basking in their warmth. Thinking. Considering.

Now that the time was so close, the excitement and novelty of his impending transformation had faded, leaving Guillermo sick with nerves. It had seemed like such an easy decision to make – one that he had made _years_ ago and had held on to all this time, waiting and hoping for the moment when he’d be able to say _yes_. He wondered with little amusement if this was how couples felt the day of their wedding. But marriages could be broken; vampirism could not. He and Nandor had only just started exploring their feelings for each other. What if it didn’t work out? What if he was driven out of the house and had to find somewhere else to live? He doubted there were many dwellings in the locale that had no windows.

They would need a new familiar, too; to do their day-time chores. Guillermo hated the idea. He didn’t exactly like being a familiar, but it had granted him an intimacy with Nandor that even friends couldn’t possess. He didn’t want to share that closeness with anybody else. It was childish, he knew – not to mention selfish, but he hated the thought of anyone but him receiving Nandor’s praise and attention.

The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on Guillermo that a _lot_ was about to change. Immortal life, no sunlight, and no human food were some of the bigger considerations, but _within_ those were so many tiny interweaving intricacies that he hadn’t even thought to consider before. And his relationship with Nandor just complicated things. Vampires were immortal, but not invincible. What if something were to happen to Nandor? Could Guillermo possibly live for an eternity without him by his side? What if Nandor became bored with him and found somebody else?

And then there were moral questions, too. Could he really bring himself to kill innocent people for his own bloodthirst? Was that a trait that came to vampires innately once turned? Would he be able to stomach the thick, metallic taste of blood, especially while knowing exactly where it had come from?

Guillermo felt panic rise in his chest, and he clutched his knees, sucking in deep breaths of air. He’d wanted this for so long, and now that his relationship with Nandor had blossomed (not without a few weeds) into something considerably more amorous than a master-familiar bond, Guillermo _needed_ this. All of his dreams were finally coming true. Yet he felt like throwing up.

***************

He arrived home an hour or two after sunset, having spent a great deal of time ambling through the leafy park and deliberating over his decision. He could still back out; Nandor would probably be secretly grateful for it. But he buried the idea the moment it sprang up. It _had_ to happen tonight, or he’d miss his chance; somehow he knew it, deep down. And despite his anxiety and his hesitation, he did want this. More than anything.

He stepped into the candlelit foyer and was immediately greeted by Nandor, who had obviously been waiting. He stood in the middle of the room, arms akimbo. “Guillermo!” he said in his usual berating voice. “Where have you been? I have had to refill the water _twice_ now; it keeps going cold.” He lowered his brow in a petulant frown.

Guillermo had been forming an excuse, but the vampire’s words threw him. “Water?”

“Yes,” Nandor said in a more even tone. “Come, Guillermo. I asked the others to leave the house for a few hours to give us some space, but they will be back soon.” He turned on his heel and made for the basement, Guillermo on his heels. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and catch Nandor in a tight hug, but the vampire was too quick for him. A sweet fragrance, lightly peppered with spice, drifted on the wake of his fluttering cape, and Guillermo inhaled it, curious.

“Are you wearing cologne?” he asked timidly, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Alessandro Dee-something,” Nandor grumbled. “Is it not good?”

“It’s good,” Guillermo assured him. “I like it.”

Actually, it was amazing. He decided that if romance had a smell, it would be this. That thought only deepened his blush. The urge to wrap his arms around the vampire and hug him close became all the harder to ignore. But the moment Nandor opened the door to the furthermost basement room, the thought completely vanished from his mind.

“Holy shit,” he breathed as he stepped into the candlelit room.

“Guillermo, you know I don’t like the H word,” Nandor scolded, though there was little edge to his tone.

“Sorry,” he whispered absently, and drank in the scene before him. Thick curtains hung suspended from trusses of rope near the ceiling, pinched up here and there by pegs for extra support, giving the illusion of a large tent that filled up most of the room. Inside was carpeted with old Persian rugs, and piled up near the back curtain, on top of the daybed Nandor had dragged down here, was a mountain of cushions – more than Guillermo had ever seen in this house. Candle jars scattered the floor in little groups of two or three, and two tall candelabras stood sentry just inside the entrance. Guillermo was far too taken aback to worry over the fire hazard. A mural of happy ducks and jellyfish caught his eye and he looked to his right, only to find a wading pool set up against the curtain wall. Steam rose lazily from its water.

And Guillermo began to laugh. It came bubbling out of him unbidden, and he couldn’t keep it back no matter how hard he tried. He could almost _feel_ Nandor’s spirits sag, and he tried to gasp out an apology, an encouraging word, but he just couldn’t stop the giggles. He clutched at the vampire’s cape and buried his face in his chest, breathing in his scent. How much stronger would it be after he was turned?

“You don’t like it,” Nandor said glumly.

Guillermo stepped back in surprise, his face lit. “Are you kidding? Nandor, you’ve made the coolest pillow fort ever!” He turned in a full circle, taking in the things he hadn’t noticed before: a small pile of rolled towels beside the pool, a bunch of blankets near the cushioned daybed, the first aid kit and massage oil from Nandor’s drugstore trip. And a Bluetooth speaker that Guillermo had never seen before.

Nandor spotted him looking and said meekly, “It’s Colin Robinson’s. He let me borrow it. He said you can use your little talking device to make the music.”

Guillermo grinned and fished his phone out of his pocket. He tossed it down beside the speaker, along with his keys. Then he returned to Nandor and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, suddenly bashful.

“Thank you,” he said. “I love it.”

“Good,” was all Nandor could say in response.

Guillermo looked around once more, his eyes sparkling. “We used to make cubbyholes like this as kids. My friends and I would sit around and read comics and listen to music. Those were some of the best days of my life.” His voice faltered as he realised what he’d just implied, and he quickly added, “I mean, aside from my years here, of course. With you—”

“It’s alright, Guillermo,” Nandor said gently. He looked as nervous as Guillermo felt. “I know I have been hard on you in the past. I haven’t made a good home for you.”

“Nandor—”

“But I have always cared about you.” His voice held an unfamiliar gravity, and he lifted a hand and brushed his thumb lightly over Guillermo’s cheek, eliciting a shiver from the man.

All memory of Guillermo’s day dissolved just then; all the anxiety and indecisiveness vanishing at his simple touch. Nandor cast a spell over him that he never wanted to be free of. It was pure bliss. He sank against the vampire’s palm and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Nandor was watching him with open affection.

“I love you,” Guillermo whispered with a drowsy smile. His head was in such a comfortable daze that he wasn’t even sure he’d said it aloud; at least not until he saw something in Nandor’s expression change. The vampire’s face fell ever so slightly, his brow knitting together, and for just a moment Guillermo was certain he was about to get a stern talking to. But suddenly Nandor’s big arms enveloped him, pulling him into a crushing bear hug. Guillermo could hardly move his own arms, so he awkwardly wrapped them around Nandor’s waist and closed his eyes, making the most of this unexpected embrace. They stayed like that for a long time.

It wasn’t until Nandor let out a loud, ragged breath that Guillermo felt the wetness on his neck. He almost jumped back in surprise, but Nandor held him tight, sniffling. All Guillermo could do was stand there in shock and take some of the vampire’s weight as he leaned into Guillermo and cried.

**********

This was extremely embarrassing!

But once the first few tears had made it over that near-impenetrable fortress that was Nandor’s bottom eyelids, they _all_ came rushing forth, like a salty, vicious army. And then his nose got all sniffly, and he was letting out pathetic shuddery whines, and the sheer embarrassment of it all just made him cry even harder.

Guillermo was trying to pat him on the back, as best he could while his arms were pinned to his sides; but other than that, he remained stiff and silent. This was _not_ turning out as planned! It should be _Guillermo_ crying, his face a sticky mess, his legs all weak. Nandor should be comforting _him_ , rocking him in his big, strong arms, triumphant in the face of despair. Instead, _he_ was the face of despair.

Guillermo made a strained noise, and Nandor realised he was squeezing him a little too hard. He loosened his grip and allowed him to step back finally, but he tried to hide his face; Guillermo should not be seeing him like this!

“It’s okay,” the man said, as if sensing his humiliation. “Did you want to, uh, put some music on?”

Nandor nodded with a sniff and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He reluctantly followed Guillermo to the speaker, and Guillermo grabbed his phone and gave him a smile. But as he tapped away at the screen, something melancholic flashed briefly in his eyes. Nandor suddenly forgot about his embarrassment.

“Guillermo?” he prompted.

“Huh,” Guillermo said slowly. “I just remembered vampires can’t use touch screens.” The hesitation in his voice wasn’t lost on Nandor.

“You don’t have to do it…” he said, trailing off, part of him hoping that Guillermo would back out…most of him hoping he didn’t.

“I want to,” Guillermo assured, albeit distractedly as he scrolled through Spotify. “I mean, it’s no big deal. I can use a stylus, right?” He gave a nervous chuckle before showing him the screen. “I made this playlist for you, remember?” Most of the musicians’ names were unfamiliar jumbles, but a few jumped out at him: Bee Gees (from his disco days); Queen; Bon Jovi; ah – the Macarena!; Hootie and the Blowfish…

“This one!” he said, tapping the screen in vain. “This one is my favourite.”

Guillermo smiled. He’d always known Nandor was a Smashing Pumpkins fan, but just like his obsession with the 1992 men’s Olympic dream team, this knowledge still amused him to no end. He pressed play and quickly lowered the volume when orchestral music blasted through the little speaker. Happy with the volume, he replaced his phone. But before he could turn around, Nandor had come up behind him and put his arms around him, pulling him back against his chest.

He would miss Guillermo’s living warmth. He pressed into him as far as his clothes would allow, and planted a soft kiss on his neck. Guillermo tilted his head back to rest on Nandor’s shoulder, a contended sigh escaping his mouth.

They stayed like that for a long time, until finally Guillermo spun in his embrace. “Here,” he said, and began to fumble with one of the clasps on the vampire’s cape. Nandor couldn’t help but watch curiously, occasionally sneaking glances at the deepening blush that graced Guillermo’s cheeks. When the cape was free, Guillermo folded it and placed it on a patch of rug that was empty of candles. He started on Nandor’s vest next.

Suddenly the tent felt _hot_. “What are you doing, Guillermo?”

“Getting you out of your clothes,” Guillermo said, as matter-of-factly as if he were undressing him for bed. “We should make the most of the pool while it’s still warm, yeah?”

“Soon,” Nandor murmured. “First…the daybed…” he trailed off. Dithery embers began to flicker inside his tummy, and with every piece of clothing Guillermo stripped from him, the man was unwittingly kindling them. Nandor took over when he came to his trousers, stepping away from Guillermo’s outstretched hands. Guillermo caught the unspoken command and began to undress himself with hurried, shaky fingers.

Nandor grabbed the massage oil, surprised at how is own hands shook. Such a virile and highly skilled warrior should _not_ be shaking. This was no more difficult than anything else he’d ever done. More than once, in his old life, he had marched into battle on John, sword held high and the odds gravely against him. And he had not _shook_. What sort of spell had Guillermo cast over him, for this meek little human to have such an effect on him? It wasn’t the first time he had wondered such a thing, especially of late.

“Come here,” he beckoned, his voice grimmer than intended – a result of trying to hide its trembling. He sat back on the daybed, tucking his cock between his legs and silently telling it to _behave_. It was already starting to twitch at the sight of a naked Guillermo, though the man was covering himself with his hands. His cheeks reddened even more as he approached Nandor, and the vampire found himself staring with open fondness; found himself reaching for him. Guillermo sat down on the edge of the daybed cautiously, and Nandor pulled him closer, so that much like before, his back was flush against his chest.

Nandor was used to getting massages, even from Guillermo. He couldn’t remember a time he’d actually _given_ one, though. He put too much oil on his palms, and Guillermo stifled a laugh as Nandor’s big hands glided wildly over his shoulders, unable to gain any traction. The vampire grunted and petulantly wiped his hands on the sheet beneath them. After that he tried his best; kneading Guillermo’s warm skin in his fingers and palms, working up and down his back, sliding his hands over his arms, around his collarbone and neck. He could sense rather than see that Guillermo’s eyes were closed, and his head lolled forward a little. Occasionally he would let out the tiniest of groans and Nandor had to shift his position in an attempt to temper the growing heat in his groin.

Eventually Guillermo reached behind him for Nandor, cutting the massage short. Which was good, because Nandor’s arms were beginning to tire, though he would never admit to it. Guillermo found his hand and ran his fingers lightly over the back of it, before taking it gently in hand and guiding it down his waist, then across, beneath his bellybutton, until Nandor felt a hot, silky hardness against his palm. He stifled a moan and parted his legs a little as his cock sprang almost painfully to life. He pressed it into the small of Guillermo’s back while he gently traced a finger up the man’s length. Guillermo shuddered and squeezed Nandor’s hand around his cock, his breath quickening. Nandor teasingly pulled his hand out of his grip, evoking a moan of protest.

“Pool?” Guillermo murmured.

Nandor smacked a single kiss on his shoulder. “Alright. But you owe me a massage,” he said, to which Guillermo chuckled breathlessly.

“And you still owe me a bite,” he retorted brashly, a hidden challenge in his voice. He snatched Nandor’s hand and tried to pull him to his feet, but it was still slippery with oil and Guillermo stumbled back, laughing again. Nandor would have blushed if he could, but at the same time he couldn’t stop his stupid grinning.

By the time he’d sunk into the warm water, Nandor was fully erect again, and he silently cursed himself for it. Half his brain was telling him this was _not_ the time for foreplay; the other half was arguing that this was the perfect time. Guillermo sat at the opposite end of the pool – which wasn’t very far away – and regarded Nandor with clear adoration. It made the vampire feel strangely uncomfortable, given the circumstances. His human had no idea what he was getting into, did he? He’d always idolised Nandor, which had made Nandor feel haughty and good about himself. But now he almost wished Guillermo didn’t. He didn’t want to feel this…this _guilt_.

“Nandor?” Guillermo had removed his glasses and dropped them lightly to the floor beside the pool, and now he propelled himself forward, rippling the water, and Nandor welcomed him in his arms. There was something about feeling his warm, bare skin against his own that made Nandor forget his worries. He pulled Guillermo close and kissed him gently on the lips. Guillermo responded with a firmer kiss, one filled with hot desire, and soon they were seeking out each other’s tongues. Nandor didn’t think he could get any harder, but then Guillermo moaned softly against his mouth, and his cock stiffened reflexively. He bucked his hips, trying to soothe the familiar ache.

Guillermo was straddling him now. It was a wonder the pool’s inflated wall managed to hold their weight as they sunk against it, sloshing water over the edge. The steam had long dissipated; the water gone tepid. But the tent was filled with the aroma of flowery candles and acrid smoke. And above it all, the sweet, coppery tang of Guillermo’s blood beneath his skin. Nandor listened to it pump through his arteries and veins, down into the tiniest capillaries; as it flowed through his lungs, through his thundering heart. Giving him life.

Nandor broke the kiss and trailed down his neck, lightly pulling and sucking at his wet skin. Guillermo was pleasuring himself against the dip between Nandor’s thigh and groin, gasping at the friction and the feeling of Nandor’s lips on the most sensitive, most _vulnerable_ part of his neck. In return, he was pleasuring Nandor as well. Nandor’s cock pulsed against Guillermo’s soft skin and silky pubic hair – a pleasing contrast to his own thick, wiry locks. And he thought then and there (though it made him feel ridiculous) that Guillermo was utterly beautiful. His warmth, his closeness, his heart; he wasn’t afraid to wear it all out on his sleeve. To not only tell Nandor that he cherished him, but to _show_ him as well.

And even more astounding was the knowledge that Guillermo was genuine in his love. He could almost see it as waves exuding from him, and he could feel it over every inch of his body. Nobody had ever felt this strongly, this _fervently_ , about him. A little part of Nandor’s brain humoured that perhaps it was his own feelings that were reflecting back on him; that he was finally recognising them and acknowledging them in some small way. But he couldn’t even say the dreaded ‘L’ word, so what could he possibly know about it?

“Nandor?” Guillermo breathed against his ear before pulling back. “Is something wrong?” He glanced down at the water pointedly, and only now did Nandor realise his erection was beginning to flag.

He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “No, everything is O-Ak.” He tried to keep his voice bright and gave a lopsided grin, and Guillermo smiled wistfully at him.

“Have you ever bitten somebody while…while doing this?” he asked, a little bashfully.

Nandor raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. “What, sitting in a little kiddie pool in a pillow fortress?”

Guillermo chuckled softly. “No, _this_ ,” he said, and ground his hips against him pointedly. Nandor found himself getting blessedly hard again, but he was deliberating. His first instinct was to gloat; but something in Guillermo’s eyes gentled him.

“I have bitten humans while having sex with them, yes,” he said at length, waiting for a reaction. Guillermo’s face remained impassive, which surprised him. “Turned them during sexy times? No.” He gritted his teeth as Guillermo thrust against him again, something dark and desirous in his eyes. “You should know by now that I don’t go around turning humans into vampires willy-nilly. Unlike _Nadja_.”

“What about familiars?” Guillermo asked, a hint of defiance in his tone. “Have you ever—”

“Guillermo,” Nandor groaned, suddenly uncomfortable. He didn’t like where this conversation was headed.

“Have you ever turned one? Been in love with one?” Guillermo pressed, ignoring the vampire’s disguised plea. There was something in the man’s eyes that pulled the truth out of him.

“Yes. A few…” he trailed off and watched Guillermo warily. Again, his face was impassive. Nandor continued in a hurry. “It never lasted long, Guillermo. Things never work out with me. I am not easy to live with. You know that.”

Guillermo actually _smiled_ then; a little bittersweet smirk, but a smile nonetheless. “You’ve never had a familiar work under you for twelve years,” he reminded him, and kissed him.

Nandor hummed. “Never had one like you,” he murmured against his lips, and Guillermo shivered in response. “Never had one…care so much about me.” The words were very difficult to say. Very unmanly. But Guillermo seemed to delight in them, because he pulled away with a bigger smile, and then ducked his head to rain kisses on Nandor’s neck. A few times he would nip him, bunching Nandor’s flesh in his blunted human teeth, and Nandor would laugh and buck his hips, overcome with a sublime mixture of mirth and desire.

Their hands roamed each other’s bodies, mapping out every ridge and hill, tracing every blemish and scar. Nandor was acutely aware of Guillermo riding him; of the ragged breathing in his ear and the clammy sweat on his chest. His senses were heightened most of all toward the pulsing of Guillermo’s blood. The sound and smell of it sent him hurtling towards climax, but he willed himself under control. Guillermo met his lips fiercely and dug his fingernails into Nandor’s shoulders, bucking hard.

“Tell me when you are close,” Nandor growled against his mouth. Their movements were frenzied and primal now, both riding the blind chaos that comes before climax. Nandor knew it wouldn’t be much longer. He put a hand behind Guillermo’s head and clutched a fistful of curls there, matching his vigorous grinding.

“Shit.” Guillermo groaned against Nandor’s collarbone. “I’m going to come.”

Nandor wrenched Guillermo’s head to one side and pulled him close. Pleasure exploded through his core, momentarily blinding him as he bit into Guillermo’s neck with the swiftness and strength of a lion. Guillermo cried out in a heady mixture of desire and agony, and Nandor responded with a growl, sinking his teeth in deeper. His cock pulsed as he ejaculated; as he drank in Guillermo’s luscious blood; holding him firmly by the hair and crushing him against his chest

He felt the throes of pleasure even as his orgasm faded. His desire was unforgiving; even as his cock softened, he felt it thicken again; felt it twitch and grow ready for more. He sucked at Guillermo’s neck like his life depended on it; overcome by vehement desire. His lover’s blood was the sweetest thing Nandor had ever tasted.


	6. Comfortably Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guillermo begins the turning process. It's not exactly as romantic as he imagined (CW for a little vomiting).

The pain was exquisite. Guillermo arched into Nandor, overwhelmed by the maddening sensation. There was nothing in the world except those sharp, tearing teeth and the all-consuming white heat of climax. This wasn’t a little death; it was a death that came crashing down on him in a suffocating wave of blinding light and unfathomable darkness. All his senses were muted except for hearing; and he heard now the blood gushing from his jugular, and Nandor slurping at it, and above that the lazy thud of his own heart becoming one with _another_ heart. If he wasn’t paralysed; if his brain wasn’t halfway gone already, he would have pressed his ear against Nandor’s chest to make sure he wasn’t dreaming it.

Because right now everything seemed like one big hallucination. His vision was hazy. The deep blues and delicate pinks of the curtains around them began to drip away like dribs of paint, leaving nothing but gaping blackness. He was going blind. His ears filled with heavy, whooshing pulses; thundering waves against a rocky shore. The pain in his neck was subsiding, but he could still feel Nandor’s teeth in there, like scalpels cutting through numbed flesh. At some point he either became fully blind, or had closed his eyes, but he couldn’t feel his face – or the rest of his body, for that matter. All he could perceive now, however vaguely, was Nandor’s proximity. Guillermo was slowly fading, and it felt wonderful.

The last thing he would be able to recall upon waking was the soft music that drifted to him from the speaker on the other side of the tent: Pink Floyd, _Comfortably_ _Numb_. How ironically fitting. Guillermo wasn’t aware of it at the time, but as he drifted out into that great ocean of nothingness, he was smiling.

_There is no pain you are receding  
A distant ship smoke on the horizon  
You are only coming through in waves  
Your lips move, but I can't hear what you're saying  
When I was a child I had a fever  
My hands felt just like two balloons  
Now I've got that feeling once again  
I can't explain, you would not understand  
This is not how I am  
I have become comfortably numb_

While Guillermo was enjoying his aimless floating in the hazy void of death, Nandor was desperately trying to sustain him. It had been surprisingly easy to pull his fangs out at the last moment; the urge to protect Guillermo and keep him alive far outweighing his bloodlust. As soon as he’d detached himself from his neck, he’d torn two great gashes in his own wrist and allowed the blood to swell forth before pushing it against Guillermo’s closed lips. His lover’s skin was ashy; eyes sunken and ringed with dusky mauve bruises. His eyelids had gone lax and opened into slits, showing gleaming, blown-out pupils underneath. Nandor cradled Guillermo’s head in the crook of his arm and slathered his blood over the man’s lips.

“Guillermo,” he called, his voice tinged with desperation. “Come on, drink now.”

Guillermo was still; the little smile that had frozen on his lips now smeared in scarlet. Blood gushed from Nandor’s wound, but he felt his flesh slowly stitching back together. He let the scarlet ichor drain into his palm, then cupped it against Guillermo’s mouth, forcing his lips apart. The red stained his teeth and tongue and drizzled down his throat, but he remained lifeless. Panic jolted Nandor’s core, striking him like lightning and almost knocking him back. He fought it down and quickly pumped his fist, drawing out more blood.

“Guillermo!” he tried again, louder this time. He felt the sting of tears in his eyes. “Time for wakey wakey!” He tipped the blood into his palm and tilted it between Guillermo’s lips again. “Guillermo, if you don’t wake up soon, I am going to be very angry!” he shouted. “You still owe me a massage!” The tears spilled out onto his cheeks now, and he snivelled. “You’re being very disrespectful, not waking up like this! Three demerit points, Guillermo. No – five! That is _five_ more years of working for me, Guillermo. Vampire or-- _gahh_!”

A sudden pain shot down Nandor’s arm and into the bone, momentarily stunning him. He looked down through his tears to find Guillermo digging nails and teeth into his flesh, and his body sagged with an overwhelming relief unlike anything he had ever felt before. A thousand victorious battles and mountainous piles of pillaged treasure couldn’t compare to the feeling of Guillermo’s determined clutching; to the sensation of his blood being sucked from his veins to nourish the vampire-to-be.

“Yes, that’s it,” he cooed, brushing damp hair away from Guillermo’s forehead, watching with fondness and contentedness as the man gnawed violently at his forearm. “Good boy. Drink, Guillermo.”

After a while, Nandor began to feel fuzzy around the edges, signalling that it was time for Guillermo to let go. He was satisfied the man had taken more than enough to keep him alive and turn him. But was markedly harder to detach Guillermo from his arm than it had been to detach himself from Guillermo’s neck. He tried to be gentle with his tugging, but in the end had to shove Guillermo’s head back. His teeth cut trails across Nandor’s forearm, but the vampire couldn’t care less. He just slipped his arms around Guillermo’s middle and pulled him close, letting him sag against his chest with a quiet, unhappy groan.

They were quiet for a long time. Nandor was content to lay, propped up against the wall of the pool and surrounded by cold, bloody water, and just listen to the sluggish thudding of Guillermo’s heart as his body absorbed the foreign blood and changed with it. They were both exhausted, but he knew their ordeal was far from over. There was no knowing how long the process would take. Sometimes it took a matter of hours; other times a matter of days. He hoped in this case it would be the former, for Guillermo’s sake. Exchanging blood was the easy part. The worst was yet to come.

The thought prompted Nandor to snap back to the present. “Guillermo?” he murmured.

“Mmm?” Guillermo replied sluggishly.

“Are you in any pain?”

“No.”

Nandor gently pushed him off and held him at arm’s length to look him over. Guillermo was awake and watchful, but his eyes were still glazed beneath hooded lids. His skin was pallid, and maybe it would never fully regain its beautiful warm tone. Nandor brushed a thumb over his cheek; felt the slight coolness there.

“Can you stand up?” he asked softly.

“I think so,” Guillermo slurred. “You’ll help me?”

“Yes.” Nandor slid his arms around him again and they awkwardly scrambled to their feet, clutching at each other. The cold seeped in immediately and Nandor felt Guillermo shiver. He gingerly let go of him and grabbed a towel, before wrapping it around the man’s shoulders. He used another towel to wipe much of the blood from Guillermo’s neck and chest, then led him to the daybed. Guillermo sat down and watched Nandor dry himself. Many of the candles had been snuffed out by splashes of water, and others were burning low. The air was filled with the sweet, redolent odour of blood. Nandor helped Guillermo into bed, propping him up on a few cushions, and reached for the pile of blankets on the floor. It would be difficult to dress him in this state, but he had enough blankets to thoroughly warm them both. And they had each other.

Nandor grabbed the bottled water and little container of Excedrin he’d placed beside the speaker earlier, and picked a couple out for Guillermo. Then he joined him on the bed.

“Here,” he said, handing him the pills. “Take them now.”

“I’m not in any pain,” Guillermo dismissed breathily.

“No, but you will be,” Nandor said. “And I want you to take them before you can’t stomach them anymore.” He pushed them into Guillermo’s palm and handed him the water, which he took gratefully. Nandor grimaced as he watched the man take three lengthy gulps. “Okay…okay! Not too much, Guillermo! You’re already going to throw up everywhere, you don’t need to make it worse.” He was suddenly reminded that he hadn’t fetched the Spewing Bucket…which was nothing more than an old steel pail he’d found in this very room. He snatched the water from Guillermo, ignoring his groggy protests, then stepped out to grab the bucket.

Outside the tent and away from Guillermo, here in the stale, cold darkness of the basement, the reality of what had just happened hit Nandor so hard that he almost gasped. He swallowed the lump in his throat, trying in vain not to think of how close he’d come to losing Guillermo; of how _stupid_ he’d been to offer him this. But the moment he was back in the tent; the moment he saw the blood dripping down Guillermo’s chest and staining the blankets, those thoughts were swept away and replaced by an intense urge to protect and comfort. He put the bucket beside the bed and then gently wiped the blood off Guillermo’s chest. The flow was beginning to ebb at least; the puncture wounds slowly clotting.

When he was done, he carefully wrapped a bandage around the bite and taped it off. Guillermo smiled at him: a dopey, sallow smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He shimmied further under the blankets and reached his arms out for Nandor. The vampire joined him, sinking into his embrace and resting his head on his chest. He closed his eyes and listened to the sluggish beating of Guillermo’s heart. He would miss this sound, and the nostalgic warmth it brought him. He knew that drinking blood could occasionally kickstart a vampire’s heart, like an old truck grumbling to life after being fed a drop of fuel – but it was always a fleeting moment, one he rarely even noticed.

Guillermo’s breaths were shallow and quiet; Nandor’s head moved up and down with them. If he were anything like Nandor, he would continue to breathe for a long while after turning, until he realised one day that he didn’t actually need to. It was an automatic habit, but one that was no longer necessary for life…much like eating. And if Guillermo were anything like Nandor, he would forget about his intolerance for human food once or twice, and try to eat something. _That_ was always a pleasant experience for new vampires.

“What are you thinking about?” Guillermo asked softly. His voice was somewhat thick, like he was getting a head cold. Nandor put a hand on his stomach and stroked it soothingly.

“You,” he said simply. Only now did he notice that Guillermo was running a hand through his hair, massaging his scalp, and Nandor pushed his head closer into his palm, savouring the feeling.

“I feel okay,” Guillermo assured him. “I know what’s coming, Nandor. I’ve heard all about it. From you. Nadja and Laszlo, too. You’ll help me, right?”

Nandor twisted his head and planted a kiss on Guillermo’s chest. “I will,” he promised. “I’m the one that got you into this mess, after all.”

Guillermo chuckled weakly, and the sound was like bells in Nandor’s ears. “We both did,” he breathed.

*****************

Guillermo slept for a long time. Nandor stayed with him, only getting out of bed to fix the candles and check the time on the little talking device…upon finding the right button, that was. The first time, he’d accidentally turned the music to full volume and near blasted them away. Thankfully Guillermo hadn’t stirred. After that, Nandor worked out how to turn the speaker off.

He spooned Guillermo now, occasionally planting little kisses on his bare back. The man’s skin was clammy, but still held stubbornly onto much of its warmth, and Nandor gladly welcomed it. Judging by his haphazard time-checking, it was around 1pm the next day when Guillermo finally awoke. He shot up in bed and choked out, “B-buck—” and in the blink of an eye Nandor had the bucket in his hands, and he shoved it under Guillermo’s chin, catching a stream of vomit in the nick of time. Guillermo clutched at the cold steel and emptied his guts while Nandor looked on, mouth set in a grimace. He really did _not_ like watching people vomit. Especially projectile vomit. Especially icky vampire-turning vomit. And then the _smell_ of it hit him and he gagged and stumbled, naked and cold, out of the tent.

From behind him there was a break in the retching. Guillermo groaned into the bucket, his voice bouncing off its steel walls. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“No, it’s all right,” Nandor assured him as casually as possible, from his safe spot just outside the tent’s entrance. “Just…let me know if you need me.” He thought for a moment and then added quickly, “Emergencies only though, Guillermo.”

Guillermo surprised him then by _laughing_ , and Nandor felt a very pleasant emotion swell inside him. Then Guillermo went back to vomiting, and Nandor tried to distract his brain with mental images of horses and puppies. The retching and splattering noises seemed to go on forever. Nandor was busy worrying about what would happen if the bucket were to fill to the brim, when Guillermo abruptly stopped. His laboured breathing began to even out after a few short-winded grunts, and Nandor hazarded a glance inside the tent.

Guillermo looked up at him with sunken, red-rimmed eyes. A few moments of silence and stillness, and then he nodded. “I think I’m done,” he choked out. Nandor cautiously returned to him and took the bucket away, trying and failing to hide the disgusted look on his face. The thing was two-thirds full. Carefully, he carried it out of the tent and placed it as far away from them as possible. When he returned, Guillermo looked a little ashamed.

“Sorry,” he apologised again. Nandor shrugged as casually as he could manage. Guillermo had regained much of the strength in his voice, though it was husky with sickness. “Do you think I could have some water?”

“Just a little.” Nandor unscrewed the bottle and handed it to him. He snatched it back when Guillermo took three big gulps. “Guillermo!” he admonished. “You almost filled the bucket before; if you’re sick again you will have to use the pool.”

“I feel okay,” Guillermo mumbled. He lay back down and lifted the covers in invitation. Despite the man’s apparent weakness, and the acrid stench of bile that hung heavily in the air, the sight before Nandor – Guillermo lifting the covers off him, exposing his naked torso as he leaned on his elbow expectantly – had his cock twitching stupidly. He quickly joined him, hoping Guillermo hadn’t noticed the indecency between his legs. He had, judging by the amused sparkle in his eye.

They wrapped their arms around each other, and this time Guillermo rested his head on Nandor’s chest. Nandor lazily brushed his fingers through the man’s sweaty hair, eyes suddenly heavy. Before long, they were both fast asleep.

*****************

The candles had long since died when Guillermo shook Nandor awake. Even with his sharp eyes, the vampire could hardly see a thing, save for the shape of a head hovering over him.

“Guillermo?” he murmured drowsily.

“I don’t feel too good,” Guillermo whispered, the words slurred. His breaths were coming out in quick puffs. “Nandor?”

Nandor shook the haze from his mind. “Are you going to be sick again?”

“No,” the man said, his voice panicky, almost pleading. “I need you.”

“To do what?” Nandor got up on his elbows and felt Guillermo’s bare chest brush his.

“Just watch over me while I sleep,” he implored. “Please, Nandor. I feel like…like something is coming for me. Like I’m in danger.”

Nandor’s stomach dropped. He knew what was coming; the memory of it – of when it had happened to him, all those hundreds of years ago – made him suddenly nauseous. He swallowed the lump in his throat and searched for Guillermo’s hand beneath the covers, squeezing it gently when he found it. Guillermo sank back into the cushions and pressed himself against Nandor, keeping him close.

“It’s normal,” Nandor mumbled against his hair. “What you’re feeling; we all felt it, too. It will pass.” He planted a kiss on the top of his head.

But Guillermo wasn’t convinced. “It’s _not_ ,” he whimpered shakily, clutching at Nandor’s chest with a clawed hand. “It’s not normal. This – my heart…it feels like…I think I’m going to die, Nandor.” His breathing sped up even faster, and with a small sob he clung tighter to Nandor, his skin slick with sweat.

“It will pass,” Nandor repeated, sounding far calmer than the felt. The guilt was beginning to seep back in. The poor guy had no idea what was in store. Had any of them?

Guillermo soon grew feverish. Violent shakes wracked his body, his fingernails digging painfully into Nandor’s skin each time. Sweat was pouring off him, and with it came the smell of disease and death; a sickly-sweet aroma that was familiar yet unique unto itself.

“I’m scared,” Guillermo squeaked between chattering teeth. Nandor didn’t know what to say to that, so he simply pulled him closer, forming around him a protective cocoon of blankets and limbs. Even after almost a _millennium_ of un-life, Nandor remembered how he himself had felt at this stage: that impending sense of doom that accompanied death, when the mind becomes frantic in its desperation to sever itself from its failing body. It was one of the worst feelings Nandor could ever recall having, and he felt a surge of protectiveness.

At the same time, though, it meant that Guillermo’s transition was nearing its end. He may have been largely out of the woods by now, but that didn’t mean the final, imminent stage was any less frightening, or any less painful. All Nandor could do was offer him comfort…and hope he’d get through it.


	7. Guillermo the Vampire

The final stage came on suddenly. Nadja had come to check on them at some point (she had barged in without a single knock, and Nandor was grateful he’d had the foresight to dress earlier), but she did not stay long. They were inching towards day three, and for the past twelve hours Nandor had been terribly weak with hunger, but he vowed to stay by Guillermo’s side until it was over. Nadja told him she’d fetch him some food, but hadn’t returned. Throughout their exchange, Guillermo had been slumbering peacefully, but not long after Nadja left he began to stir; kicking the blankets away and whimpering, his skin gleaming with sweat.

Nandor sat beside him and gently placed a hand on his forehead. He felt inhumanly hot; so much so that he was almost painful to touch. His whimpers eventually turned to moans, and his moans to cries. Before long, he was screaming. Nandor knelt over him on the bed, holding his arms as gently as possible as Guillermo writhed and thrashed about. He felt strangely calm despite the agony evident on the man’s face; despite the way he cried out and arched his back and clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Perhaps he was just exhausted and overcome with hunger. Or perhaps it was just encouraging to see him react with such vigour.

At one point Guillermo accidentally threw his fist at Nandor’s temple, and the impact had him momentarily seeing stars. He could have laughed had it been a less dire situation – the man could pack a surprising punch.

“It’s all right,” he said soothingly, after Guillermo let out a particularly loud growl of pain. “It’ll be over soon.”

Guillermo was still feverish and wild, though, and Nandor wasn’t sure he even heard him. He twisted away, kicking his legs violently before recoiling into the fetal position and wailing. Nandor tried to hold him, but Guillermo wasn’t having any of it. He pushed him away with surprising strength.

“ _Master_ ,” he groaned deliriously. “What the fuck…did you do…to me?”

His words sent a hot blade through Nandor’s chest. He grabbed him firmly around the chest and pulled him close, forcing the man still. “I’m sorry, Guillermo,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. It’s all right, though. It’ll be over soon. Shhh.” He dipped his head and trailed kisses over the man’s shoulders and down his back, as far as he could reach, tasting the sickness in the salt of his skin. Astonishingly, Guillermo began to calm. His breathing was ragged and laced with sobs and drawn-out groans, but he sagged against Nandor and lolled his head, surrendering. A few more spasms, a handful of gasps, and he was still.

Nandor felt the change immediately. It was a tangible thing; that point where the soul left and the body became nothing more than a vessel made of tissue and bone. The air seemed to drop with the absence of life. Everything became stiller. Guillermo was nothing more than a sack of meat beneath his arm, completely relaxed, freed of all the tension and pain he had been forced to endure only moments ago. Nandor was almost too afraid to slide a hand around and place it against his heart. When he did, though, he felt nothing. The steady beating that had sustained Guillermo for thirty years was gone.

Nandor couldn’t stop the tears when they came. He sobbed into Guillermo’s neck, beyond tired; beyond hungry; beyond relieved. At some point the exhaustion took its toll, and once again he dropped off to sleep.

************

They were in the fancy room and there was music playing: Laszlo’s shitty rendition of Take on Me, to be specific (the ‘original’ being a bawdy ballad with the lyrics “ _turn on me, turn me on, I will come, in a minute or two_ ”). Nadja was shouting commands from where she stood in the corner; one hand on her hip, a bunch of paper bats dangling from the other. Laszlo was dragging a couch across the room, and the screech of wood was loud enough to raise the dead.

“No, Laszlo!” Nadja shrieked through gritted teeth. “The lounge should be over _there_ , away from the blood fountain! Where are the candies for the children?”

“You mean the caramelised ox balls? By the front door,” Laszlo replied. He dropped the couch and gestured in the foyer’s general direction.

“Why aren’t they in here?” Nadja demanded.

“Do you really think children are going to come wandering into a house full of vampires?” Laszlo retorted.

“Of course they will! It’s All Hallows Eve!”

“They might not if you call it that,” Colin Robinson offered from somewhere out of sight. “I believe the kids call it _Halloween_ these days. And have since the sixteenth century.”

“Shut up, Colin!” Nadja hissed.

“You need to shut _down_ , dear,” Laszlo said, and Guillermo stifled a laugh when he heard the ferocity of Nadja’s gasp. “The guests will be here soon. Don’t worry about the children, darling; Gizmo found us plenty of virgins, didn’t you boy?”

“Ten,” Guillermo said proudly, his voice strained as he clutched the final loop of string and reached for a curtain hook.

“Guillermo, are you done yet?” Nandor demanded from underneath him.

“I just need to get a little closer…can you…yes, stop! Okay, I think I’ve got it…hold on.” Guillermo finished stringing the old, papery banner (on it, thick red letters declared that is was “HALLOWEEN, 1935!” beside a crudely-painted black cat), and looked down at Nandor with a grin. “Done! You can let me down now, master.”

“Good,” Nandor said with relief. “My hands were getting tired.” And with that he simply let go and walked away, and Guillermo cried out as the hardwood floor came rushing up to meet him.

************

He awoke with a gasp, and the sensation was utterly bizarre, like breaking free from a pool of water after already drowning. The air that Guillermo forced into his lungs was superfluous; after breathing it out, the organs decided they didn’t care for oxygen right now and deflated.

For a moment he lay there in darkness, blinded and numb, unable to move. Then he flicked his bleary eyes open and saw…more darkness. Guillermo groaned, though it came out a pathetic squeak, and he tried to roll over but his muscles ached and his bones creaked.

“Guillermo?” Nandor’s voice, a cutting blade in the silence, rang in his ears, and a second later Guillermo found himself reaching blindly for that familiar voice, ignoring the pain that seared through his arms as he found cold skin. “Guillermo,” Nandor said again, and this time he sounded far more relieved.

Suddenly there were arms around him, big and warm, and Guillermo welcomed the embrace and returned it, feeling his strength slowly returning to him. They sunk into the bed, Nandor never once letting go. Guillermo nestled into his favourite spot against the vampire’s chest and allowed his mind to unfurl and his body to heal.

He felt oddly removed from himself, yet at the same time all his senses were heightened to extremes. Even the tiniest of noises were clear and sharp as glass: the slow trickle of water from a storm drain outside; the gentle rustling of leaves in the garden; the distant murmur of thunder, miles and miles away. He felt every fibre of the blanket that caressed his bare skin; felt every singular strand of Nandor’s beard that tickled his forehead. And his sense of smell…it was otherworldly. He could pick out each individual scent on Nandor; each settling neatly over one another: skin, salt, cologne, semen, blood, dust, vomit, water, spice…frangipanis. His sense of taste was heightened, too; blood and death and bile concocted the worst, most rancid morning breath in existence, and it made his stomach churn. He was also painfully aware that he had a raging boner.

“How do you feel?” Nandor whispered, bringing him out of his drowsy reverie. Guillermo grunted softly to acknowledge him, but his voice box wasn’t ready to wake up yet. So Nandor slipped an arm around his middle and ran his fingers over his back soothingly. “You can keep resting if you like. It’s over. You’re safe now.”

Resting was the last thing Guillermo wanted to do, though. He had no idea how long he’d been out for, but it had felt like an eternity. His previous life had flashed through his mind in flickering images, mingled with so many bizarre dreams that he couldn’t remember what was fantasy and what was memory. In his hazy, confused state he was sure a century must have passed while he had slept. And now all he felt was the frustrating, queasy drowsiness that came with oversleeping. He tried to lift himself into a sitting position, but his arms wouldn’t hold his weight and he flopped back to the bed and let out an annoyed moan.

“Guillermo,” Nandor said gently, and leaned over him to cup his cheek with a cool hand. Guillermo could only just make out the silhouette of his head, yet he met his lips with ease. Nandor kissed him deeply, and Guillermo let out a cracked squeak when he felt his tongue in his mouth, which in turn evoked a little chuckle from the vampire as he pulled away.

“My mouth…” Guillermo managed to choke out, extremely embarrassed, “…is gross.” He jumped a little when Nandor let out a loud laugh, but then filled with warmth; there were tears in that laugh. Nandor kissed him again, and now Guillermo _felt_ the tears; they tickled his lashes and coaxed out his own. They pulled away and Nandor let out a little sniffle, followed by an awkward chuckle. Guillermo smiled, though it was probably too dark to see, and ran a palm up his chest, through the hair there. Nandor shivered.

“Your teeth?” he inquired softly.

They were one of the first things Guillermo had noticed, because he’d accidentally bit down on his bottom lip and drawn a single drop of blood. They were _sharp_ , even in their non-feeding form. His smile widened into a grin and he flung his arms around Nandor, pulling him down on top of him before nipping him playfully on the neck.

“Hey!” Nandor shouted, though there was little steam in his voice. “Stop that!” But Guillermo kept on seizing him with gentle nibbles, giggling as Nandor wrestled him in a half-hearted attempt to get away. His actions were in vain; Guillermo’s strength near matched his own now. They were equals finally, and the very thought sent a thrill through Guillermo that aroused deep desire. And all of a sudden, a great, unfathomable thirst overwhelmed him, and he growled against Nandor’s neck and bucked his hips, his cock hardening. Nandor noticed it and pulled back with enough force to break the embrace. Guillermo reached for him, snatching the front of his blouse and tugging.

“I want you,” he said breathlessly.

Nandor chuckled darkly. “I know what you want,” he taunted. “And I can’t give it to you.”

“But I already drank from you once,” Guillermo argued. He yanked at Nandor’s shirt again and Nandor fell on him with a surprised “Uh!”, and then Guillermo was at his neck, digging his fangs into the flesh there, feeling their grotesque pull as they lengthened. His mouth filled with blood…and it tasted like poison: acrid, virulent, searing hot. He flung his head back and spat, sprinkling Nandor’s face with it. The vampire responded with another great laugh.

“Have you ever stopped to consider why we don’t feed on each other?” he said with mirth.

Guillermo stuck his tongue out and wiped it with his forearm, making disgusted noises. His tastebuds were singed. But the blood had tasted so _sweet_ before! He felt the mattress ease as Nandor rose from it and shuffled in the dark. Moments later the tent filled with diffused light. It was pale and soft through the curtains, yet Guillermo still had to squint for a moment until his eyes adjusted. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, but his vision had improved enough that he could make out the closest shapes in clarity. He looked around, noticing the melted candles and bloodied towels. The tent seemed smaller than it had previously; the curtain walls sagging in, heavy with moisture.

Nandor came back and knelt beside the bed. Guillermo saw his features change ever so slightly as his eyes roamed his face, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he saw. Nandor himself looked terrible: pallid skin, dry lips, deep-sunken eyes. The bite Guillermo had inflicted on him had at least healed, leaving only a smear of dried blood.

“How long have we been down here?” he whispered.

Nandor shrugged, seemingly too tired to properly reflect. “Three days or so.”

Guillermo gawked at him. “And you haven’t had _any_ blood?”

“I had yours.” He shrugged again, eliciting an eyeroll from his newly-turned lover.

“No wonder you look hungry.”

“You look hungry, too,” Nandor observed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Guillermo hesitated. The taste of Nandor’s blood had left his stomach reeling and he felt sick, but at the same time he was forcing back a primal urge to feed…on anything he could. Doubt crept into him. “I don’t know if I can do it,” he whispered.

Nandor didn’t need clarification. He knew exactly what he was talking about. “You will be all right, Guillermo. I’ll help you,” he said. “Now do you think you could get up and dress? I’m fucking sick of this basement.”

Guillermo nodded, and Nandor helped him to his feet. The new vampire swayed and leaned into him until his head ceased its spinning. Nandor handed him his clothes and assisted him in dressing, which was kind of comical, in an ironic way. Once dressed, he tested his shaky legs and found he could bend and retrieve his phone with surprising ease. He checked the time: 2am. He was grateful they still had a few more hours before sunrise.

“Have you seen anyone?” he asked as they left the basement. The cool, musty air that hit his face was a welcome reprieve from the colder, staler air in the basement. It smelled far cleaner, too.

“Nadja came to check on us earlier,” Nandor informed him, a little sulkily. “She was supposed to bring me food, but I guess she forgot. And while you were off in peaceful sleepy land, I had to listen to their yelling and stamping about the house.”

“A true martyr,” Guillermo grumbled as they stepped out into the foyer. Nandor turned around and hissed at him, and Guillermo couldn’t hold back his drowsy smile. “Thank you, Nandor,” he said, as sincerely as possible.

Nandor straightened up, suddenly self-conscious. “It was a difficult thing for me to do, you know? I had to sit there and watch you die. _Twice_.” He put two fingers up to emphasise. Guillermo stood on his tiptoes and placed a pacifying kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you,” he said again.

Nandor glanced everywhere but his eyes. “You’re welcome,” he grumbled, and then spun on his heel with a sweep of his cape and started for the stairs. They’d made it halfway up before Nadja’s shrill voice echoed off the walls.

“Finally!” she shouted. “Come here, Gizmo, let me look at you.” Guillermo turned around to see her darting up the steps, Laszlo close behind. He watched them approach warily, suddenly nervous.

When she reached them, Nadja held him at arm’s length, eyes trailing up and down his body appraisingly. “You look horrible,” she decided with a _tsk_ , then quickly added, “no offense.”

“He’s hungry, Nadja!” Nandor said petulantly.

“You look just as bad,” Laszlo noted with a nod.

“Thank you, Laszlo.”

“We left a human in the cell for you,” Nadja went on. “We knew your big stubborn brain would forget to eat and you’d be too exhausted to hunt.”

“That’s very nice of you, Nadja. Laszlo.” Nandor sounded very tired. “You could have brought them down to the basement for us, you know? We have been very hungry.”

Laszlo pointedly ignored him and turned to Guillermo, perking up. “Show us your teeth, boy!”

Guillermo bared his new fangs, and both Nadja and Laszlo’s eyes widened a touch. Nadja looked almost…somewhat excited. “We were sure you were going to die,” she said.

Laszlo made a noise of assent, before adding, “Didn’t think you had it in you, Nandor. You remember what happened last time?”

Guillermo blanched and shot a surprised look at Nandor. The tall vampire grimaced and hurried for the door of the big blue room. “Come, Guillermo,” he said awkwardly, through clenched teeth. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll go get our food.”


	8. Bloodlust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guillermo enjoys his first meal as a vampire

Nandor left for the cell. Nadja and Laszlo were waiting on the landing for him, and he fought down the urge to roll his eyes. He pushed past them and tried to pretend they weren’t there.

“He was quite the screamer,” Laszlo remarked, falling into step behind him.

“Our dinner?” Nandor said.

“No; Gizmo. Nearly hollered the house down.”

“Mhmm,” Nadja agreed. “Even Colin Robinson was worried.”

Nandor wished they would go away. He was not ready to look back on what had transpired over the past few days; to hear those screams in his memories. Especially not on an empty stomach. “Well, he’s fine now,” he said curtly. “Everything is OK-A.”

He left Nadja and Laszlo in the hallway, Nadja’s whisper following him down. “See? I told you he gets ornery when he’s tired.”

“Well,” Laszlo called, and cleared his throat. “I guess we’ll leave you to it, then.”

When Nandor came out of the cell, carrying his bound and gagged dinner on his shoulder, his housemates had thankfully vanished. Guillermo’s first meal as a vampire would be a lanky man of eighteen or nineteen, with a shock of mousy hair and skin so pale that Nandor suspected he was probably anaemic. He didn’t look very nutritional; in fact, he wasn’t kicking and screaming nearly as vigorously as they usually did. Occasionally he would let out a groan or half-heartedly try to wriggle out of his binds, but otherwise he seemed to have succumbed to his fate. Who knew how long he’d been withering away down in that cell.

He was a virgin, at least; Nandor didn’t even have to smell him to figure that one out. He was tidy enough, too, and as far as looks went…well, they could do a lot worse. Nandor usually didn’t care about sex appeal when it came to picking out his food; plain humans tasted the same as beautiful ones. But a lot of the younger vampires cared about aesthetics, and maybe Guillermo would appreciate it. The act of feeding could sometimes get…well…rather sensual.

He was not a jealous vampire when it came to sex. Was he protective? Yes. Domineering and selfish? Possibly (according to his housemates, at least). But he’d spent over seven hundred years sharing lovers and participating in extravagant orgies, and he had long since learned to separate carnal lust and affection. So the thought of Guillermo finding pleasure in feeding on someone else ignited nothing but desire in his lower belly. Besides, he too was prone to spontaneous bouts of lust while satiating his thirst, so he understood.

He knocked briefly on Guillermo’s door and then pushed it open, bumping their meal’s head in the process, eliciting a tired, strained grumble from him. Nandor unceremoniously threw the bundle of human onto the bed, making Guillermo flinch and jump off the mattress. He watched with wide eyes as Nandor sat the man up and removed the gag from his mouth, before untying his wrists and legs.

“The fuck is happening?” their dinner squeaked. Nandor grimaced and tossed the rope to the floor, then swirled his fingers before the man’s eyes.

“This is all just a dream,” he said in his best hypnotist’s voice. “You will pretend that everything is O-AK.”

“A-OK,” Guillermo corrected. Nandor hissed at him.

“Okay…you’re scaring me,” Dinner said alarmedly. “Can I just go home? I promise I won’t tell anyone about…any of this.” His eyes darted around the room, probably looking for an escape.

“I don’t think it worked,” Guillermo muttered, then perked up. “Hey, can I try?”

Nandor pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. He was too tired and hungry for this. “No, Guillermo. It takes _years_ of practice to master hypnosis. Let’s just eat him and be done with it.”

The man’s eyes widened at that, but Guillermo pointedly ignored the vampire. He stood in front of their supper and tried to emulate the hand gestures he’d often seen his housemates do. “Everything is fine,” he said, dropping his voice an octave. “Just relax, and…uh…believe that there is nothing out of the ordinary going on.”

Nandor rolled his eyes and huffed. “Please, Guillermo, can we just—”

“There is nothing out of the ordinary going on,” Dinner repeated monotonously, his eyes suddenly glazing over. “Everything is fine.” Nandor gaped at Guillermo, who simply responded with an arrogant smirk. There was an unspoken challenge in his eyes, one that set Nandor’s nether regions on fire, and he swallowed the urge to growl. He lunged for Guillermo, catching him in a tight embrace and crushing their lips together, their meal briefly forgotten. The kiss was heated, frenzied and passionate, and by the time Guillermo managed to pull away, they were both straining in their trousers. The man just looked on in confusion.

Nandor took Guillermo’s hand and brought it up to his lips briefly, before guiding it towards their hypnotised meal on the bed. “Here,” he said, and splayed Guillermo’s fingers behind the man’s head. “Hold him like this, firmly by the hair,” he instructed, forcing Guillermo’s fingers into a fist. “Then hold him around the middle with your other arm, like you’re hugging him.”

Guillermo balked, put off by the sudden proximity of this stranger. He looked at Nandor for reassurance, lines of worry marking his forehead. Nandor pushed his back gently with the flat of his hand, encouraging him to straddle the man and strengthen his hold. Guillermo swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing and his face twisted in discomfort, as he gingerly pulled the man’s chest against his own. There was no resistance on the man’s part; Guillermo’s hypnosis on him was strong. Nandor felt a secret spark of pride at his lover’s newfound skill, as he took a seat next to them and ran a soothing hand down the curve of Guillermo’s back, then over the swell of his rump.

“Go on,” he urged gently.

“Do I…just bite?” Guillermo asked shakily.

“Just like you bit me before,” Nandor said, and gave his butt cheek a little smack. Guillermo flinched forward from the gentle impact, and Nandor’s cock stirred as he drank in the sight of his lover perched like this in the lap of his victim: one hand clutching the back of the man’s head, the other tightened firmly around his back, holding him in a lover’s embrace. Nandor shuffled back on the bed to give Guillermo some space; the young vampire’s demeanour was becoming more and more guilty the longer he sat like this, and Nandor found it oddly endearing.

But the moment Nandor was settled into the pillows at the opposite end of the bed, Guillermo sunk his teeth into the human’s neck, unable to contain his hunger any longer. The man under him spasmed once and made a strangled noise, but then fell calm once more. Nandor watched in rapt fascination as Guillermo tasted virgin blood for the first time. Almost immediately he let out a grunt, his hand clenching tighter around the man’s hair as he wrenched his head further sideways, better exposing his neck. As he drank, his other hand swept up the man’s back of its own accord, clawing at the fabric of his shirt as if he couldn’t pull him close enough. Occasionally a drawn-out groan would escape Guillermo, between the sounds of awkward slurping and gulping and ragged breathing, and before long the noises were driving Nandor crazy. It didn’t help that he could very clearly see the way Guillermo’s knees pushed forward and back against the mattress as he gyrated on the stranger’s lap.

Nandor let out his own quiet groan and tugged at the laces of his trousers without thought; desperate to free himself. Guillermo noticed the flurry of movement and he slid his eyes up to watch, never once loosening his grip on the man’s neck. Nandor pulled out his heavy cock and stroked it gently in an attempt to ease the ache, and when he glanced over at Guillermo again, he saw the man’s eyes widen a fraction before dropping to focus on his meal again. Nandor somehow doubted that Guillermo would be willing to share his dinner, but at this point he didn’t care, overwhelmed with desire as he was. He worked his fist around his cock, his lazy strokes soon brisking up into frantic pumps.

Guillermo was buried in the stranger’s neck, his cheeks and nose painted crimson. The man had remained blessedly silent this whole time, hypnotised beyond the ability to feel pain **.** But Guillermo more than made up for his lack of noise. His moans were muffled but louder now; more frequent and frenzied. Any propriety, any modesty he had displayed earlier had been overshadowed by a cardinal desire that Nandor recognised all too well. Loud squelching filled the air as he gnawed and sucked on raw flesh, drawing out that sweet nectar.

Nandor pumped harder, spurred on by the fragrance of blood and Guillermo’s strained moans. Guillermo met his eyes again, and the dark arousal in them sent Nandor over the edge. He arched his back and uttered a strangled cry, coming hard, white light flashing behind his closed eyelids. Hot, sticky threads spattered his stomach and pooled between his fingers, and he opened his eyes to look at Guillermo just as the young vampire tore his teeth away from his now-dead victim and cried out, burying his head in the crook of his neck, grinding fervently against his lap as he exploded in his pants.

“Oh sh—Nandor,” he gasped hoarsely. He was shuddering violently, riding out the ebbing throes of his orgasm. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” Nandor asked in a low, drowsy voice. He tucked himself back in and waited patiently for Guillermo to stop shaking; to catch his breath, so to speak. Guillermo eventually went still, his head buried against the stranger’s shoulder, his arms the only things keeping the lifeless body upright. A little while later he staggered back, letting the remains of his dinner slump to the floor. There were tears in his eyes, and bashfully he tried to cover the wet patch on the crotch of his trousers. He seemed to be deliberating on whether to flee the room or join Nandor on the bed.

“Come here,” Nandor said softly, stretching out his arms. Guillermo gingerly stepped over the body and clambered up the bed to meet his embrace. “What are you sorry about?” he repeated.

Guillermo sniffed and sunk into him, resting his head against his chest. “I didn’t want…I didn’t mean to do that. I only meant to drink from him, Nandor.” He lifted his head cautiously to stare at his lover; wide dark eyes beseeching. Nandor felt a pang of affection so acute it almost hurt.

“Guillermo,” he murmured, and made to cup his cheek before realising his hand was covered in drying semen. He made a face and wiped it on the sheet.

“I’m sorry,” Guillermo repeated, misinterpreting Nandor’s look of disgust **.** The tears spilled out onto his cheeks and Nandor quickly planted a kiss on his lips. The tang of blood reached his tongue and he let out a tiny, hungry moan. He pulled away.

“Guillermo, you don’t need to apologise,” he said in his most sincere, albeit sleepy voice.

“What I did, though…” he trailed off, and surprisingly some colour flushed in his cheeks. “I had no control over it. I couldn’t stop.”

“It’s completely normal,” Nandor assured, in the brightest tone he could manage. “It happens to us all, the first few times. Sometimes even the hundredth time. Or the thousandth.” He shrugged, as if to say it was no big deal. And it _was_ no big deal – not to him, at least. For Guillermo, it would probably take some time getting used to the feeling; to learn to separate bloodlust and sexual lust.

The young vampire regarded him with a wary sort of adoration. “You aren’t mad?” he whispered.

Nandor snorted, the sides of his eyes wrinkling as he grinned. “Guillermo, did you not just see me shoot my load all over myself while watching you eat that guy? Do you need me to get your glasses for you?”

Guillermo grinned shyly and averted his gaze. “It happens to you, then?” he asked demurely. The softness of his voice, and the way his cheeks flushed as if still filled with lifeblood, completely dissolved all of Nandor’s previous fears. The vampire before him was still Guillermo. _His_ Guillermo.

“Occasionally,” he replied, then added teasingly, “Why do you think we call it bloodlust?” He watched with tenderness as Guillermo relaxed a little, and then a shameless thought sprang to mind and he smirked. “Maybe next time we could make it a threesome?”

Guillermo’s eyes bulged at that and he sprang to his knees. “Oh no,” he said, suddenly alarmed. “You must be _starving_ Nandor. The guy…I…I don’t know if there’s much left.” He clambered off the bed, and Nandor heard a dry _thud_ as Guillermo nudged the body with his foot, bending over to check for excess blood.

Nandor couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t worry about me, Guillermo,” he said; though it was true, he was dangerously close to dipping into the vampiric equivalent of a diabetic coma. He got to his feet and fixed his clothes before glanced back at Guillermo. The young vampire was reclining on the bed again, propped up on one elbow and gazing at him with concern, inadvertently looking as delicious as ever. Only now it wasn’t his blood that tempted Nandor; it was _all_ of him.

“You will be all right without me?” he asked, though he knew he would be.

Guillermo nodded tiredly and smiled. He didn’t ask where Nandor was going; no doubt he already knew. Nandor wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to find anything particularly tasty tonight, but he was willing to bleed a racoon if it meant it would ease his hunger.

“Try to rest now,” he said, his voice soft. “I will come get you before sunrise. We will need to share my coffin until we can find you your own.”

Guillermo looked suddenly fretful. “Will we even fit? Why don’t we get one from the basement?”

Nandor mirrored his expression. “Believe me, my coffin will be _far_ more comfortable. Even with me in there.” He went to the door, his head suddenly filling with practical things, which admittedly made it hurt a little. Yes, Guillermo would need a coffin. And they would have to find a larger crypt to share. This room might do, provided they could reinforce the windows better. He would need a cape as well. And more elegant clothing; not those terrible sweaters and ‘car-keys’ he liked to wear.

But first and foremost: the coffin.

“Guillermo?” he said when he reached the door and glanced back. Guillermo was still watching him, but his previous desire had smouldered down to a dreamy gaze.

“Mmm?” he asked groggily **.**

“Do you think the Amazon sells coffins?”

The dreamy look was briefly replaced by bemusement. “I, uh…don’t think so, Nandor.”


	9. Jāné del-am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! (minus epilogue)

Guillermo was going to make a fine vampire, Nandor decided. Part of him even felt a little silly for torturing the man with all his promises over the years; but in his defense, he had only been refusing him for the sake of his safety. The young vampire’s skin had regained much of its pigment, which both surprised and delighted Nandor. His eyes were darker, though; midnight blue. And his _libido_! Nandor sometimes had a hard time keeping up.

Guillermo had ordered his coffin all by himself from the ether-net, despite Nandor’s incessant demands to help him choose. Several times a day he had to be reminded (in an exasperated tone) that it was a _surprise_ , but Nandor was not a very patient vampire. He became even more impatient when Guillermo told him, with a satisfied smirk, that it would take three days to arrive.

That, of course, meant spending a few days cramped up in Nandor’s coffin. It was a tight fit for them both, and it got uncomfortably humid at night, and there were many awkward boners to contend with. But Nandor actually felt a little stab of sorrow three days later, as they waited around for the coffin to arrive. He was going to miss Guillermo’s head against his chest, their bodies flush in the cramped space; his lover’s scent enveloping him into the evening hours. Despite the general discomfort, he had slept very soundly.

They sat on opposite couches now in the fancy room. Nadja and Laszlo were lounging on the third. Neither Nandor nor Guillermo were comfortable just yet with sharing their affection in front of the others. In fact, outside of the bedroom, they still treated each other with a timid awkwardness. Nadja and Laszlo found it endlessly comical.

“What time will it be here?” Nandor demanded pettishly.

Guillermo was scrolling down his phone with the funny little pen-like contraption that he called a stylus. It did not look very stylish. It was made of cheap, poorly-welded plastic and rubber. But it did the job. Guillermo rolled his eyes; this was the fifth time Nandor had asked tonight.

“I don’t _know_ ,” he said. “I asked for eight, so it should be here around eight.”

“Well it is seven-forty-five now,” Nandor announced.

“That clock is fast,” Laszlo mentioned casually. He was reading a vintage magazine with a faded pinup illustration of a lady in a pink corset on the cover. Nadja had recently taken up cross-stitching, though she often declared with a frustrated growl that she _hated_ it. She was working on a piece now: a jagged, uneven goat’s head that resembled a child’s drawing. Presently she was stitching the words “Fucking Mike” underneath in glaring red.

Nandor grunted and began to pace restlessly, his jaw set and his teeth clenched.

“He hasn’t been sleeping,” Nadja surmised distractedly. “Remember when we shared a coffin, Laszlo?”

“Ah yes,” Laszlo’s eye sparkled at the memory. “I remember a _lot_ of sex.”

Nadja giggled. “But it was very difficult to have sex in a single coffin.”

“We aren’t having sex!” Nandor insisted loudly, chagrined. “Guillermo is still very much a virgin, thank you!”

Guillermo let out a quiet groan and rubbed his eyes beneath his lenses (he still wore his glasses, and Nandor was happy about that, because they’d always been a part of him). He looked like he was getting a headache.

Nandor put his hands on his hips and glared at his housemates. “Please be quiet now,” he said sternly. “Guillermo is getting a headache.”

A familiar, eerie noise rang through the room, and Nandor visibly jumped.

“Door,” Laszlo said. It was unnecessary, of course; Nandor was already hurrying into the foyer. Guillermo followed close behind. A middle-aged man greeted them at the door, his face appropriately sombre.

“Evening,” he said. “Guillermo?”

“Oh, that’s me.” Guillermo pushed past Nandor and smiled politely.

“We have a casket here for delivery. We just need you to sign a few things.” He handed Guillermo a clipboard and pen, and Guillermo stepped into the foyer where there was better light.

Nandor stayed in the doorway. He craned his neck out past the man to look at the truck, feeling a weird rush of excitement. But he couldn’t see the coffin yet. Another delivery man approached them; this one dressed far more casually. “Have you got a bigger door?” he asked. “Might be a tight fit.”

Guillermo slipped past a confused Nandor and handed the first man the clipboard. “Yeah, around the side. I’ll show you.” He led the way, Nandor on his heels like a curious child.

“Don’t often deliver them directly to the house,” the second man remarked when they reached the double-doors. “It’s usually the funeral directors that organise this sort of thing.”

“Oh, there is no funeral,” Nandor said spiritedly.

Guillermo groaned underneath his breath, but tried to remain courteous. “We’re, uh, just planning ahead,” he explained.

“Ah…” the first man said, perplexed.

“Yes,” Nandor continued politely, “Guillermo here is going to be sleeping in it.”

Both men gawked at Guillermo, who simply dropped his gaze.

As the couple waited at the door for their delivery, Guillermo slid an arm around Nandor’s waist and leaned against his shoulder. They stayed quiet, listening to the sounds of the night, the hydraulics of the truck’s ramp as it lowered, and the muffled voices of the men. When they wheeled the coffin out, Nandor’s eyes widened. It was _huge_.

“Guillermo?” he said curiously, feeling a little spark of excitement in his belly.

“Yeah, I got one big enough for the both of us,” Guillermo explained with a casual grin.

Nandor tried to keep a stolid expression. “Wow. That was very smart of you.” He placed a hand under Guillermo’s jaw and kissed him tenderly. When they broke away from each other, the men were standing before them, on either side of the wide casket, looking extremely awkward.

**************

It was a beautiful coffin, and _delectably_ cosy. His taste in fashion may not have been very refined, but Guillermo could sure pick a casket. They’d moved it off the floor and onto a large solid slab of polished timber; only a few inches high, so it was easy enough to climb in and out. No more annoying stepladders. It was solid mahogany in dark cherry, adorned with intricate dendritic carvings of twisting branches and flowery swirls (he had explicitly requested no religious symbols _or_ silver). Inside, the satin lining was deep scarlet, a shade darker than blood. The cushioning was thick and plush, and when Nandor tested it (taking off his boots first, of course), he sunk down and let out a happy sigh.

“Better than your old coffin?” Guillermo quipped, settling down on his own side. He snuck a hand beneath Nandor’s bedshirt and stroked his hairy belly.

“Mmm,” Nandor agreed lazily, basking in the softness around him, and in Guillermo’s touch. “I will miss her, though. She has served me well.”

“We’ll keep it,” Guillermo assured him, and he snuggled closer against Nandor’s side. “We could even put it in the basement, for when you’re banished there for arguing with me about room décor.”

“Ha!” Nandor exclaimed devilishly, and poked him in the chest. “You might find _yourself_ back in the basement if you keep that up.” They were yet to bring Nandor’s things into the room, because they had spent the past several days bickering about the number of swords and axes that should be displayed on the walls. Nandor didn’t exactly approve of Guillermo’s big poster of Armand, either. It wasn’t that he was jealous, of course; it was just a fucking ugly poster, all worn and dog-eared.

Guillermo lifted his top half and pecked Nandor on the cheek, allowing him a small smile before resting his head on his chest. Nandor slipped an arm underneath and around him, pressing him close. They lay like that for a long time, both drowsy from the sheer comfort of their new bed and the contentedness of being in each other’s arms. They would sort out the décor tomorrow night. Or the next night. Or the night after that. They had all the time in the world, after all.

Guillermo ran his hand further up Nandor’s body and rested it on his chest. He let out a happy little hum and whispered, “I love you.”

Nandor felt a burst of warmth course through him. He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose, feeling all his tension release with it. “ _Jāné del-am_ ,” he murmured back.

Guillermo perked up. “Is that Farsi?”

“Yes,” Nandor admitted bashfully. “I remembered the words while you were turning. I do not think you heard me back then, though.”

“What does it mean?”

Nandor drew out a worried hum, deliberating. It was not like him to expose his feelings like this, using exotic words from his seven-hundred-year-old past, from a time and place he could scarcely remember. Then again, it was not like him to enlist the help of his housemates and spend hours setting up a pillow fortress with its own jacuzzi and two dozen candles; nor starve himself for three days to ensure his ex-familiar wasn’t going to die on him.

And suddenly Nandor knew that he’d never be able to deny Guillermo anything. He was _done_ for. But with how close he’d come recently to losing the man he loved – yes, it was love, he recognised it now like a kick in the guts – he couldn’t bring himself to care. He would give Guillermo anything he wanted. Even if that meant exposing the part of himself that he’d shut away from the world for so many centuries.

“Nandor?” Guillermo urged gently. “What does it mean?”

Nandor planted a kiss on his head, and for the briefest of moments he was sure he felt a curious little flutter deep in his chest. “It means you are the life of my heart,” he said.


	10. Epilogue - The Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little epilogue...it's intentionally silly because I enjoy trying to make Nandor as dumb as possible

Guillermo ducked his head under the water, welcoming its warmth as it washed the blood from his face. It had been two weeks since he first sunk his new fangs into a human, and each night from then on, Nandor had helped him hunt. And he was getting better at it; though he was a messy eater. Not that Nandor could talk, _he_ was just as messy, and he’d had far longer to learn how and where to bite to avoid being sprayed in the face with blood.

It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. When the thirst came on him, he forgot about feeling guilty, about how immoral the act was; how _illegal_ it was. And when he came down off that high and felt the guilt creep back in, Nandor was there to comfort and assure him.

But for the past few nights, the older vampire had been acting strange. They were still often distant when in public, keeping their hands to themselves and treating each other with an awkward sort of courtesy. Guillermo knew it would take time for them to figure out their new roles as partners, and he wasn’t concerned about that. What he _was_ concerned about, though, was that Nandor seemed to be distancing himself in private, too. It was subtle, but Guillermo was so attuned to his partner that he felt it like a punch in the guts. There was a tenseness in the air whenever he was around, and he was jumpy and secretive.

Guillermo tried to ignore it. Nandor may have been surprisingly romantic at heart, but he was too bull-headed to admit to any deep feelings, or voice any important concerns; so even if Guillermo questioned him, the vampire was likely to just deny it. Yet he couldn’t quell the disquiet that tugged at him constantly; even in the dead of early morning, before sunrise, when their room filled with their sighs and groans and Guillermo was swept away by Nandor’s lips and fingers; even then, that unease nagged him.

Nandor was waiting for him in their coffin when Guillermo returned from his shower. He was propped up on an elbow, blankets pooled around his waist. There was a steely resolve in his eyes that made Guillermo feel weak at the knees. His eyes roamed Nandor’s face and naked chest, down his belly, to the little nest of thick curls that peeked out from beneath the blankets. Then it hit him: did Nandor want something more? Is that why he had been avoiding him; because he didn’t know how to broach the subject? Was that why he had been so hesitant in bed? Was he worried that Guillermo would be afraid? Reject him?

Guillermo could have laughed at the absurdity of the idea. He would gladly give himself to Nandor. He had fantasised about having sex with him for years now. Oftentimes it had been the one thing to help him climax when he was a human; back when he was alone. He wanted nothing more than to feel that fullness, that warmth, that level of closeness that he had never experienced; he wanted Nandor to claim him, to know him fully. But he too had been too shy to suggest such a thing.

His boxers were already embarrassingly tented by the time he climbed into the coffin. Most nights when Guillermo met him in bed, Nandor would be laying on his back, a hand behind his head, eyes closed in a lame attempt at feigning sleep. Guillermo would shimmy under the covers and snuggle against his side before exploring his face and chest and stomach with his fingers, occasionally dipping a hand beneath the covers to stroke the patch of hair just above his cock. And the whole while Nandor would keep his eyes shut and lay there like the pillow princess he was, the faintest of smiles betraying him. They would keep up this game until both of them were painfully hard and couldn’t take it any longer. And then Nandor would at least have the diligence to kiss Guillermo. Everywhere.

But the past few nights had been different. Nandor hadn’t felt like playing. He hadn’t felt like doing much of anything. So tonight, instead of laying down next to him, Guillermo leaned over him and without warning clutched his face and kissed him with as much fervour as he could manage. Nandor let out a surprised moan as he was pushed onto his back and straddled, and soon Guillermo felt two large, familiar hands on his backside and a hard rod beneath the blankets. He broke the kiss with a sigh and Nandor started on his neck, sucking at it and bucking his hips, his fingernails digging almost painfully into Guillermo’s skin.

“I want to,” Guillermo gasped, meeting Nandor’s inky eyes. “I’m ready.”

Nandor’s face changed then. It softened…lost some of its desire. His expression was one of open tenderness. He sat up on his elbows, eyes flicking over Guillermo’s face as if searching for something. He was deliberating.

Apprehension ignited in Guillermo’s stomach, and he felt a knot of panic in his throat. Had he misinterpreted Nandor’s avoidances? Was there something else…something far less inviting…on the vampire’s mind?

Nandor’s eyes bore into his, now. There was a hint of nervous sparkle in them. “We have forever, Guillermo,” he said, then thoughtfully added, “I think we should wait. Until after.”

The flame of unease in Guillermo’s stomach grew bigger as confusion settled over him. “Until after what?” he asked cautiously. Now it was his turn to search Nandor’s face for a clue. The sparkle in the vampire’s eyes, and the little skittery smirk that crept onto his face, weren’t very good hints. They just made him all the more puzzled. Surely he couldn’t be thinking about…?

Nandor kept his mouth firmly shut, even as Guillermo’s eyes widened.

“Until after _what_ , Nandor?” he repeated demandingly, and he shoved a hand against Nandor’s chest for emphasis.

Nandor’s smile grew a little, but it wavered, and suddenly that heaviness was back in the air. His eyes flickered away for a moment, and then he shuffled, gently pushing Guillermo away and getting to his knees.

“What is it?” Guillermo pressed, feeling the panic rise again. Nandor gave him a furtive glance before looking away.

“Do you think…” he trailed off, fighting for words. He had never been good at words. “This isn’t moving too fast for you, is it?” He made a tiny gesture in the air between them. “Us?”

Guillermo was terribly confused now, and it showed on his face. “No, Nandor! Not at all. I know we have forever, but I—”

“Good,” Nandor interrupted decisively, before reaching towards the bedside table. That look on his face…the shakiness in his hand as he opened the drawer…was Nandor _nervous_?

Guillermo’s stomach flipped as coppery-tasting bile rose in his throat. His anxiety had reached fight-or-flight proportions. But he tried to swallow it all down and remain calm as Nandor returned to him. Whatever this was about…they would get through it; just like they’d gotten through everything else these past twelve years.

“Here,” Nandor said simply, and he gently pushed a folded piece of paper into Guillermo’s hand. There was a weight to it, and when Guillermo opened it, a little black velvet pouch slid out and onto the bedding. But Guillermo was only partly aware of it, because his eyes were scouring the paper. It was a simple enough letter, written in Nandor’s childish scrawl, but he couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the words. He had phantom pain in his heart.

Nandor had picked up the pouch meanwhile, and now he tilted it above his open palm. Two identical rings came tumbling out: platinum bands with rose-gold trim. Nandor ran his thumb across them and bit his lip, then looked up at Guillermo expectantly, his eyes wide with poorly-concealed anticipation. Guillermo could hardly see him for all the tears in his eyes, and he lunged for Nandor, flinging his arms around him to cry into the crook of his neck.

Nandor gave his back a few hesitant pats. “Is that a yes?” he asked, his voice muffled by Guillermo’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Guillermo snivelled. He sat back and quickly wiped at his eyes, embarrassed. He looked down at the little note again, and was overcome with laughter. “Nandor, why did you draw me in a wedding dress?”

“Because we’re getting married,” Nandor said matter-of-factly, and he slid the ring onto Guillermo’s finger.

“No, I mean…why aren’t I in a suit?”

Nandor’s face distorted in outrage. “Well, I’m not going to be the one wearing the dress!”

Guillermo looked at him with tender disbelief before shaking his head almost imperceptibly. “You’re a dork, Nandor,” he ribbed gently.

Nandor slid on his own ring and smiled, unfamiliar with the word but hearing the endearment in it. “Yes, I am,” he boasted proudly. “Thank you, Guillermo.”

[](https://ibb.co/zsFHfPg)  
[](https://imgbb.com/)  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she wrote!
> 
> Thank you SO much for sticking out til the end, and for the comments and kudos, I love each and every one of them and each and every one of my readers. You guys, and WWDITS, give me life <33
> 
> If you'd like sneak peeks of future fics or want to see my fanart and general WWDITS postings (need I mention the cameo where Harvey talks about Nandermo?) then check out my Tumblr - laszlosdick.tumblr.com :D


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